SF 


Per  Hen: 

How  to  Get  Them 


EDGAR    WARREN. 


Rrice   SO   Cents. 


Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

CLARENCE  C.   DEPUY, 

Publisher. 

1912 


200  Eggs  a  Year  Per  Hen: 
How  to  Get  Them. 


A  Practical  Treatise 

ON 

Egg  Making  and   Its  Conditions 

AND 

Profits  in  Poultry. 


BY    EDGAR    WARREN 

i\ 


Price,  '^xdeftfts. 


Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

CLARENCE    C.     DE  PUY, 

Publisher. 

1912. 


V/3 


X1- 

COPYRIGHT  1899,  1900,  1902, 
By     EDGAR     L.     WARREN. 

COPYRIGHT  1905, 
By     CLARENCE     C.     DE  PUY. 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  Two  Hundred  Egg  Hen. 


We  hear  a  good  deal  said  in  these  days  about  the  200  egg 
hen.  Some  are  disposed  to  deny  her  existence,  and  to  class  her 
with  such  fabulous  or  semi-fabulous  birds  as  the  phoenix  and 
dodo.  Others  admit  that  she  has  appeared  in  isolated  instances, 
but  is  by  no  means  common.  Others  contend  that  if  she  should 
appear  in  large  numbers  it  would  be  a  misfortune  rather  than 
otherwise,  for  such  excessive  egg  production  would  weaken  her 
system  so  that  her  eggs  would  not  hatch  healthy  and  vigorous 
chicks ;  and  the  200  egg  hen  would  be  in  constant  danger  of 
extinction  from  her  own  success. 

One  thing  is  certain,  however,  the  200  egg  hen  is  no  myth. 
There  are  many  of  them  scattered  about,  and  the  tribe  is  on  the 
increase.  My  reputation  for  truth  and  veracity  is  reasonably 
good ;  yet  I  am  willing  to  make  oath  that  I  had  a  flock  of  four- 
teen White  Wyandottes  that  from  October  to  October  gave  me 
a  total  of  2,999  eggs,  an  average  of  a  little  better  than  214  eggs 
apiece.  There  are  others  who  can  beat  this.  Men  are  already 
talking  of  the  250  egg  hen,  and  before  we  realize  it  she  will  be 
here. 

I  do  not  see  how  a  man  can  draw  an  arbitrary  line,  and  say 
how  many  eggs  a  hen  may  or  may  not  lay  in  a  year.  The  hen 
in  her  wild  state  lays  from  six  to  ten ;  the  average  farmer's  hen 
not  over  100;  while  on  egg  farms  the  average  is  raised  to  150. 
But  why  stop  here?  There  are  365  days  in  a  year;  and  I  do  not 
see  why  a  pullet  that  is  fully  matured,  that  conies  from  an  egg- 
producing  strain,  that  is  properly  fed  and  cared  for  and  kept 
steadily  at  work,  may  not  lay  at  least  200  eggs  in  that  time. 

I  am  prepared  to  admit  that  a  hen  will  not  lay  200  eggs  a 
year  without  constant  and  intelligent  care.  I  am  also  prepared 
to  admit  that  in  some  cases  the  number  of  eggs  extra  a  hen  will 
lay  where  she  has  this  constant  and  intelligent  care  will  not 
pay  for  the  time  consumed,  and  that  it  may  be  more  profitable 
to  get  an  average  of  say  150  eggs  a  year  than  a  larger  number. 
But  I  believe  that  in  the  poultry  business,  as  in  every  other,  it 
is  well  to  have  a  high  ideal.  The  man  who  inscribes  on  his 
banner,  "Two  Hundred  Eggs  a  Year  Per  Hen,"  and  then  comes 
as  near  it  as  he  can,  will  make  more  money  and  have  more  fun 
than  will  the  man  v^b^is^^eifrterit  to  take  what  comes  along. 


THE  HEREDITY  OF  THE  TWO  HUNDRED  EGG  HEN. 

When  I  was  a  boy  a  mile  in  2 :40  was  regarded  as  a  great 
performance  for  a  trotting  horse.  There  were  horses  that  had 
trotted  under  2 :40,  much  under,  but  they  were  few.  I  remem- 
ber it  was  the  custom  for  us  urchins  to  cry  out  whenever  a 
man  drove  by  at  a  slashing  gait,  "Got  it,  two-forty !"  I  am  not 
an  old  man  yet  by  any  means — my  wife  tells  me  that  1  am 
young — but  I  have  lived  to  see  the  trotting  record  come  down 
and  down  until  it  has  dropped  below  the  two  minute  mark.  A 
horse  that  cannot  trot  in  less  than  2 :40  is  regarded  as  a  good 
horse  for  a  woman  to  drive,  but  out  of  place  on  the  track. 

What  has  brought  the  record  down  and  down  until  men 
are  looking  for  the  two  minute  horse  ?  Heredity  and  handling ! 
A  trotting  horse  now  has  a  pedigree  as  long  as  a  European 
monarch.  The  blood  of  generations  of  trotters  flows  in  his 
veins.  It  may  be  the  ancestral  lines  converge  in  the  great 
Messenger  himself. 

Heredity  and  handling!  These  two  things  are  as  necessary 
for  the  200  egg  hen  as  for  the  two  minute  horse.  Men  do  not 
gather  grapes  from  thorns  nor  figs  from  thistles.  The  200  egg 
hen  must  be  bred  to  lay.  She  must  come  from  an  egg-produc- 
ing strain.  No  matter  how  scientifically  a  man  may  feed  or 
how  hygienically  he  may  house,  he  cannot  take  a  flock  of  hens 
of  any  old  breed  or  no  breed  and  get  200  eggs  a  year  apiece 
from  them.  It  is  impossible.  By  carefully  following  the  in- 
structions of  this  book  he  can  largely  increase  the  egg  yield 
of  such  a  flock,  but  he  must  not  expect  to  get  200  eggs  a  year 
apiece  from  them.  I  cannot  impress  it  too  strongly  upon  the 
reader's  mind  that  if  he  expects  to  get  200  eggs  a  year  apiece 
from  his  hens  he  must  start  in  with  a  great  laying  strain. 

WHAT  BREED  IS  BEST? 

There  is  an  old  Latin  proverb,  De  gustibus  non  est  disput- 
andum,  which  I  will  take  the  liberty  to  translate  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  have  been  out  of  school  for  some  time.  Its  mean- 
ing is  this :  In  matters  of  taste  there  is  no  argument.  This 
is  as  true  in  the  poultry  business  as  it  is  elsewhere.  Other 
things  being  equal  that  breed  is  the  best  for  a  man  which  he 
likes  best.  There  is  no  breed  that  combines  all  the  excel- 
lences and  has  none  of  the  defects.  There  is  no  breed  that  does 
not  have  its  admirers.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  most 
profitable  breeds  are  to  be  found  in  the  Asiatic,  American  and 
Mediterranean  classes,  as  follows :  In  the  Asiatic  class  the 


Light  Brahmas,  Black  Langshans,  Buff  and  Partridge  Cochins; 
in  the  American  class  the  Barred,  Buff  and  White  Plymouth 
Rocks,  all  the  Wyandottes  and  the  Rhode  Island  Reds ;  in  the 
Mediterranean  class  the  Black  Minorcas,  Brown,  White  and 
Buff  Leghorns.  These  are  the  great  money-making  varieties. 
The  Asiatics  are  excellent  table  fowls  and  prolific  layers  of 
dark  brown  eggs.  They  are  good  sitters  and  mothers,  although 
somewhat  clumsy.  They  are  inclined  to  be  sluggish  and  read- 
ily take  on  fat.  They  stand  cold  well,  and  make  good  winter 
layers.  The  Mediterraneans  are  egg  machines,  turning  out 
great  quantities  of  white-shelled  eggs.  They  do  not  stand 
cold  as  well  as  the  Asiatic  and  American  breeds,  and  are  not  as 
good  fowls  for  the  table.  The  Americans  on  the  whole  are  the 
favorites.  They  are  all-round  birds,  good  layers  of  brown  eggs, 
excellent  for  the  table,  good  sitters  and  mothers.  They  stand 
cold  well,  and  are  the  birds  for  farmers  and  breeders.  The 
danger  with  every  breed  is  that  it  will  get  into  the  hands  of  the 
fanciers  and  be  bred  for  points  rather  than  for  utility.  Stam- 
ina is  the  important  thing,  and  not  the  show  card.  It  will  be  a 
great  day  for  the  poultry  business  when  farmers  keep  more 
pure-bred  fowls,  for  then  the  great  standard  varieties  may  be 
kept  up  without  danger  of  deterioration. 

HOW  MANY  VARIETIES  SHALL  I  KEEP? 

After  studying  the  matter  carefully,  I  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  is  better  for' the  average  poultryman  to  confine 
himself  to  one  variety.  He  will  get  better  results  and  make 
more  money  if  he  concentrates  his  energies  than  he  will  if  he 
dissipates  them.  After  a  man  has  made  a  success  with  one 
variety  he  may  perhaps  add  another,  and  even  a  third ;  but  the 
best  poultrymen  do  not  handle  many  varieties,  and  some  of  the 
most  successful  confine  themselves  to  one.  Where  several 
varieties  are  kept  I  would  suggest  that  there  be  some  principle 
of  unity  determining  the  choice.  Let  the  birds  all  be  of  one 
color — say  white,  black  or  buff — or  let  them  all  be  of  one  fam- 
ily, like  the  Leghorns,  Wyandottes  or  Plymouth  Rocks. 
Where  the  fowls  are  all  of  one  family  they  will  have  the  same 
characteristics  and  respond  to  the  same  treatment.  In  case  of 
an  accidental  mix-up  the  damage  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  for 
the  birds  are  all  of  the  same  size,  comb  and  contour. 

HOW  MANY  RECORDS  ARE  WRECKED. 

Some  time  ago  I  received  a  letter  from  a  young  lady  who  is 
an  enthusiastic  poultrywoman,  in  which  she  said  that  she  was 


getting  a  goodly  number  of  eggs,  but  that  her  record  was  low- 
ered because  she  had  kept  over  half  a  dozen  hens  which  had 

rlaid  well  the  year  before.  She  said  that  she  knew  better,  but 
could  not  resist  the  temptation.  I  mention  this  case  because 
it  is  so  typical.  More  egg  records  are  wrecked  by  keeping  old 
hens  in  the  flock  than  in  any  other  way !  There  is  always  a 
temptation  when  a  hen  has  laid  well  to  keep  her  the  second 
year.  This  temptation  must  be  resisted  if  one  is  in  quest  of  a 
big  egg  record.  The  fact  that  a  hen  has  laid  well  for  one  year 
since  coming  to  maturity  incapacitates  her  from  ever  laying  so 
well  again.  She  has  drained  her  system,  and  requires  recup- 
eration before  she  can  lay  even  moderately.  You  may  set  it 
down  as  an  axiom  that  it  is  the  pullets  that  give  the  big  rec- 
ords. If  you  have  in  your  flock  some  hens  that  you  desire  to 
keep  a  second  year  as  a  reward  for  past  services,  or  for  breed- 
ers and  mothers,  put  them  in  a  pen  by  themselves  and  do  not 

.  look  for  more  than  a  moderate  egg  production  from  them.  It 
is  the  pullets  that  lay,  and  the  early-hatched  pullets  at  that. 
Get  out  your  chickens  in  March,  April  or  May,  according  to 
the  breed,  if  you  want  winter  layers. 

WEED  OUT  THE  NON-LAYERS. 

Reports  from  the  Maine  Experimental  Station  where  trap 
nests  are  used  and  individual  records  kept,  show  that  among 
hens  of  the  same  breed  and  kept  under  the  same  conditions 
there  is  a  great  difference  in  egg  production.  One  Barred 
Plymouth  Rock  laid  251  eggs  in  one  year,  while  another  in  the 
same  flock  laid  but  eight.  A  White  Wyandotte  pullet  laid  219 
eggs,  while  another  of  the  same  breed  laid  absolutely  none. 
These  figures  are  most  significant,  showing  as  they  do  the 
'  absolute  necessity  of  weeding  out  the  non-producers.  Sup- 
pose you  have  two  hens  in  a  pen,  and  one  lays  200  eggs  a  year 
and  the  other  none.  The  average  for  the  two  is  100  eggs 
apiece.  In  other  words,  the  non-layer  has  reduced  the  pen 
record  one-half.  It  costs  a  dollar  a  year  to  feed  a  hen,  and  this 
money  is  thrown  away  if  the  hen  does  not  lay.  The  one  abso- 
lutely sure  way  of  identifying  the  layers  and  non-layers  is  by 
the  use  of  the  trap  nest ;  but  this  takes  time,  and  many  do  not 
•feel  that  it  pays.  Still  without  the  use  of  the  trap  nest,  by 
keeping  one's  eyes  and  ears  open,  one  can  pick  out  the  layers 
with  sufficient  accuracy  for  all  practical  purposes,  as  I  shall 
show  before  I  get  through. 


THE   THREE   CONDITIONS   OF   EGG   PRODUCTION. 

It  was  a  maxim  of  Lord  Bacon,  one  of  the  greatest  men 
that  ever  lived,  that  Nature  is  the  great  teacher,  and  that  in 
order  to  learn  we  must  interrogate  Nature.  If  we  study  Na- 
ture with  open  eyes  she  will  often  give  us  suggestions  of  great 
value  and  fruitfulness.  The  poultry  man  must  continually  go  to 
Nature,  the  great  teacher,  and  he  will  not  go  in  vain.  In  the 
state  of  nature  in  which  wild  fowls  live,  or  in  the  state  of  semi- 
nature  in  which  the  farmer's  fowls  are  kept,  what  is  the  season 
of  egg  production?  Summer.  Why?  Because  in  summer  the 
conditions  of  egg  production  are  present.  What  are  these  con- 
ditions? Warmth,  proper  food  and  exercise.  Reproduce  these 
conditions  at  any  season  of  the  year  and  the  fowl  will  be  likely 
to  lay.  The  poultryman  should  keep  this  fact  in  mind  and 
govern  himself  accordingly. 

IS  THERE  AN   EGG  TYPE? 

Before  I  pass  to  the  next  chapter  I  wish  to  take  up  a  subject 
upon  which  there  is  a  wide  difference  of  opinion — Is  there  an 
egg  tyPe  ?  Some  of  those  who  ought  to  know  claim  there  is  not. 
But  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  as  there  is  a  type  of  cow  that  we 
associate  with  large  production  of  milk,  so  there  is  a  type  of 
hen  that  we  may  associate  with  large  production  of  eggs.  -I 
believe  that  a  hen  with  a  broad  breast,  a  long,  deep  body  and 
straight  underline  (the  so-called  "wedge-shape"  fowl)  will  lay 
better  than  one  with  a  narrow  breast,  a  short  body  and  curved 
underline.  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  vital  organs  are 
confined  within  the  body,  and  in  a  hen  with  a  broad  breast 
and  long,  deep  body  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  the  organs  of 
assimilation  and  reproduction ;  while  in  a  hen  with  a  short, 
curved  body  these  organs  are  necessarily  constricted.  If  a  hen 
is  to  lay  well  she  must  eat  well,  breathe  well,  and  have  large 
ovaries;  in  other  words  there  must  be  plenty  of  room  inside 
for  all  the  great  organs  to  perform  their  functions.  This  ex- 
plains why  there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  egg-produc- 
ing breeds  to  increase  in  size. 


CHAPTER  II. 


The  Home  of  the  Two  Hundred  Egg  Hen. 


Much  of  a  man's  success  or  failure  in  the  poultry  business 
will  depend  upon  the  location  and  construction  of  his  plant. 
Where  hens  are  kept  in  small  numbers  and  given  free  range, 
they  do  well  almost  anywhere ;  but  where  they  are  kept  in  large 
numbers  and  in  confinement,  they  must  have  as  favorable  con- 
ditions as  possible  or  they  will  prove  a  source  of  loss  and  not  of 
profit  to  their  owner. 

The  best  location  for  a  poultry  plant  is  on  sandy  soil,  where 
there  is  a  gentle  slope  to  the  south  or  southeast.  If  there  is  a 
wind-break  of  some  kind  on  the  north  and  northwest  the  loca- 
tion becomes  ideal.  Such  a  location,  however,  is  hard  to  find — 
nor  is  it  indispensable.  Poultry  can  be  kept  on  almost  any 
soil,  provided  it  is  not  saturated  with  water  for  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  year.  Even  a  clay  soil  has  its  advantages  ;  it  pro- 
duces a  luxuriant  growth  of  grass  which  not  only  provides  the 
fowls  with  forage,  but  which  also  by  its  roots  takes  up  the  ex- 
crement which  otherwise  might  contaminate  the  ground. 

Before  the  poultryman  drives  a  nail  or  does  a  stroke  of 
work  he  should  carefully  consider  the  possibilities  of  his  situa- 
tion, and  lay  out  his  prospective  plant  in  his  mind.  If  he  is  to 
build  largely  at  once  it  might  pay  him  to  consult  an  expert. 
But  if  he  is  to  build  only  one  small  house,  he  should  build  it 
with  reference  to  others  that  he  may  put  up  in  future  years. 
So  I  say,  have  a  plan.  The  details  may  be  filled  in  at  the  poul- 
tryman's  convenience — or  they  may  never  be  filled  in.  But  if 
the  man  lives  and  his  business  grows  the  time  will  come  when 
ihe  will  thank  his  stars  that  he  was  wise  and  far-seeing  enough 
to  have  a  plan  at  the  very  start,  and  not  have  to  waste  time  and 
money  moving  buildings  about  or  in  tearing  them  down  and 
replacing  them  with  others. 

THE  COLONY   PLAN. 

There  are  three  methods  of  keeping  hens  in  large  numbers. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  colony  plan.  The  principle  of  the  col- 
ony plan  is  that  of  keeping  hens  in  small  segregated  houses — 
twenty-five  to  fifty  hens  in  a  house.  These  houses  are  scat- 
tered at  regular  intervals  over  the  farm,  and  are  visited  two  or 
three  times  a  day  by  an  attendant.  The  hens  are  given  free 


range.  It  has  been  found  that  when  houses  are  one  hundred 
yards  apart,  or  even  less,  flocks  will  not  mingle,  but  each  flock 
will  keep  in  the  neighborhood  of  its  own  house.  This  plan  has 
its  advantages.  It  is  inexpensive.  The  houses  may  be  of  the 
cheapest  kind.  No  yards  are  required.  The  hens  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  pick  up  a  good  deal  of  their  living.  If  the 


Colony  hoase  to  accommodate  from  12  to  25  fowls.  This  house  is  eight  feet  square  on 
the  ground  ard  eight  feet  from  floor  to  apex  of  roof.  There  is  no  frame,  but  the  i*oof 
hoards  are  nailed  to  the  ridjepole  and  to  plank  basehoards. 

houses  are  located  in  an  orchard  the  hens  fertilize  the  ground 
around  the  trees  and-  eat  the  wormy  fruit.  No  dangerous  dis- 
ease is  likely  to  break  out  among  hens  kept  in  colonies.  But 
on  the  other  hand  the  plan  has  serious  drawbacks.  Even  in 
pleasant  weather  it  requires  a  good  deal  of  time  each  day  to 
visit  the  scattered  flocks ;  but  in  winter,  when  a  blizzard  is  rag- 
ing, to  make  the  rounds  of  the  houses  is  an  experience  calcu- 
lated to  make  one  appreciate  the  perils  and  hardships  of  a  Polar 
expedition.  Then,  too,  these  isolated,  detached  houses  are 
shining  marks  for  thieves ;  and  unless  the  neighborhood  is  ex- 
ceptionally honest,  the  poultryman  may  wake  up  some  morning 
to  discover  that  two  or  three  hundred  of  his  fowls  have  van- 
ished. 

THE  COMMUNITY  PLAN. 

The  second  method  of  keeping  hens  in  large  numbers  is 
what  I  may  call  the  community  plan,  and  is  sufficiently  de- 
scribed by  the  name.  The  majority  of  large  poultry  plants  in 
the  country  are  constructed  on  this  plan.  The  great  argu- 


0 


ment  in  favor  of  this  plan  is  economy — economy  in  labor,  econ- 
omy in  land.  The  original  cost  of  a  plant  on  the  community 
plan  is  somewhat  greater  than  the  cost  of  a  plant  on  the  colony 
plan ;  but  when  the  plant  is  erected  and  equipped  the  saving 
begins.  There  are,  however,  some  objections  to  this  plan  be- 
sides the  initial  cost.  It  has  been  found  very  difficult  to  keep 
the  houses  perfectly  dry,  where  the  length  exceeds  sixty  feet. 
Moisture  collects  on  the  walls  and  roof,  and  in  cold  weather 
congeals,  so  that  in  these  long  houses  there  is  often  a  coating 
of  frost.  In  cleaning  out  the  long  houses  it  is  somewhat  diffi- 
cult to  reach  the  central  compartments,  requiring  as  it  does  a 
long  walk  and  the  opening  and  shutting  of  many  doors  and 
gates.  Where  a  virulent  disease  like  cholera  or  roup  breaks 
out  in  one  compartment,  as  it  sometimes  will,  it  has  been  found 
almost  impossible  to  confine  it  to  that  compartment — germs 
traveling  in  the  air,  or  being  conveyed  from  one  pen  to  another 
in  excrement  which  may  stick  to  the  feet.  With  the  commu- 
nity plan  go  long,  narrow  yards  or  parks,  which  can  be  fenced 
only  at  considerable  cost. 

The  scratching  shed  has  now  become  an  integral  part  of 
many  of  the  long  houses.  The  scratching  shed,  as  its  name 
implies,  is  a  place  for  exercise  under  the  same  roof  with  the 
laying  room,  but  more  open  to  the  weather.  The  scratching 
shed  has  many  enthusiastic  advocates  who  claim  that  it  is  in- 
dispensable to  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  fowls  in  the  win- 
ter, and  will  more  than  pay  for  itself  in  an  increased  egg  out- 
put. The  claims  for  the  scratching  shed  house  seem  so  valid 
that  if  I  were  building  a  house  more  than  sixty  feet  in  length,  I 
should  certainly  add  scratching  sheds. 

It  is  impossible  in  an  article  like  this  to  give  a  plan  for  a 
house  that  will  suit  every  purse  and  every  place.  I  can  only 
submit  a  cut  of  what  I  consider  the  best  community  house  I 
have  yet  seen,  and  give  a  brief- description  of  it.  The  house  is 
on  the  Gardner  &  Dunning  Poultry  Farm,  of  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

The  house  shown  in  the  foreground  of  the  view  is  180  feet 
long  by  12  wide,  and  is  divided  into  ten  sections,  each  18  feet. 
Each  section  is  in  turn  divided  into  a  scratching  shed  of  nine 
feet,  and  a  laying  and  roosting  room  of  the  same  length.  The 
house  is  made  of  the  best  material,  double  boarded  with  paper 
between  and  ceiled  overhead  at  the  height  of  six  feet.  In  each 
pen  is  a  large  window,  a  small  ventilating  window  into  the  hall- 
way and  a  ventilating  hole  out  through  the  ceiling  which* 
draws  off  the  foul  air,  but  forms  no  draught. 


12 


The  scratching  sheds  are  open  in  front,  with  a  canvas  which 
can  be  let  down^to  keep  the  snow  out.  The  yards  are  150  feet 
long,  with  a  row  of  fruit  trees  in  each,  and  are  plowed  and 
sowed  each  year.  At  present  there  are  three  of  these  long 
houses  on  the  plant  and  more  will  be  added  as  they  are  needed. 

THE    MONTANA    EXPERIMENT    STATION    HOUSE. 

An  important  and  in  many  ways  desirable  variation  from 
the  ordinary  scratching  shed  house  is  the  main  poultry  build- 
ing in  use  at  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  at  Bozeman, 
Montana.  "The  building  is  72  feet  long  and  14  feet  wide  with 
a  4-foot  passage  in  the  rear.  It  is  divided  into  pens  12  feet  long 
and  10  feet  wide,  and  is  set  upon  a  foundation  of  stone  18 
inches  wide  and  two  feet  high.  The  slope  of  the  roof  is  for  the 
main  portion  to  the  south,  the  ridge  coming  just  above  the  pas- 
sage way  four  feet  from  the  rear  wall.  This  slope  of  roof  is  of 
great  advantage  since  the  sun  rapidly  melts  the  snow  on  the 
southern  incline,  making  it  warmer  and  drier,  while  on  the 
other  side  the  slope  is  so  steep  that  the  snow  does  not  lodge 
there. 

"The  next  most  important  feature  is  the  double  floor.  The 
exit  from  the  pens  is  through  the  floor  into  the  space  under- 
neath the  building.  This  basement  has  a  ground  floor,  and  it 
is  two  feet  from  the  ground  to  the  sills.  In  summer  this  makes 
a  fine,  cool  and  shady  place  when  doors  shown  in  cut  are  down 
and  portholes  open,  while  in  winter  with  the  doors  raised  the 
low  sun  enables  the  sunlight  to  extend  more  than  half  of  the 
distance  from  front  to  rear,  making  an  ideal  place  for  dusting 
and  scratching.  This  feature  adds  greatly  to  the  usefulness 
of  the  building,  since  it  so  materially  increases  the  floor  space 
without  affecting  the  area  of  the  roof." 

THE  COLONY-COMMUNITY  PLAN. 

The  third  method  of  keeping  hens  in  large  numbers  is,  so 
far  as  I  know,  original  with  me,  and  may  be  called  the  colony- 
community  plan.  The  plan  in  brief  is  this:  To  keep  the  hens 
in  small  detached  houses  built  in  streets  and  situated  close  to 
one  another,  with  yards  running  to  the  rear  instead  of  the 
front. 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  great  mistake  to  run  the 
yards  to  the  front  of  a  hen  house  instead  of  to  the  rear.  There 
are  innumerable  occasions  when  the  poultryman  wishes  to  visit 
a  pen  in  the  middle  of  a  long  house,  and  in  order  to  do  so  he 
must  open  and  shut  half  a  dozen  doors  to  pass  along  an  alley- 


13 


way  for  fifty  or  one  hundred  feet.  When  he  wishes  to  remove 
the  litter  or  shovel  sand  into  the  middle  pens  it  is  necessary  to 
open  and  shut  a  number  of  gates  before  he  can  do  so.  But  with 
the  yards  in  the  rear  the  poultryman  can  drive  along  the  front 
of  his  house  and  reach  the  middle  pen  as  easily  as  he  can  at 
the  ends. 

The  houses  that  I  use  in  the  colony-community  plan  are  all 
alike,  and  are  very  simple  in  construction.  Each  house  is  12 
feet  long,  7  feet  wide,  7  feet  high  in  front  and  5  feet  high  in  the 
rear,  and  is  designed  to  accommodate  50  brooder  chicks,  20 


Colony-community  houses  arranged  in  streets,  with  yards  running  to  the  rear. 

head  of  laying  stock,  or  a  breeding  pen  of  one  male  and  twelve 
females. 

The  house  rests  on  cedar  posts  or  old  railroad  ties  put  in 
the  ground  below  the  frost  line  and  sawed  off  eight  inches 
above  the  surface.  There  are  six  of  these  posts,  three  on  each 
side,  and  where  old  railroad  ties  are  used  the  whole  cost  of  the 
foundation  is  15  cents.  On  these  ties  are  laid  two  main  sills 
and  four  cross  sills,  each  2x4  spruce.  The  plates  are  2x4  stuff, 
but  the  other  timbers  in  the  frame — posts  and  rafters — are  2x3. 

After  the  building  is  framed  the  floor  is  laid.  This  is  dou- 
ble, and  between  the  upper  and  lower  floor  Neponset  black 
sheathing  is  used.  The  covering  to  the  frame  is  then  put  on, 
and  over  the  boards  Neponset  black  sheathing  is  tacked.  This 


15 


is  to  be  covered  with  Neponset  red  paper.     All  the  boards  in 
the  frame  are  hemlock. 

The  roof  is  a  very  important  part  of  a  hen  house.  When 
the  rafters  are  put  on  they  are  sawed  off  flush  with  the  plate ; 
and  when  the  sides  are  boarded  the  boards  are  brought  up' so 
that  they  cover  the  ends  of  the  rafters  and  also  the  edge  of  the 
roofing  boards,  making  an  absolutely  tight  joint.  Neponset 
black  sheathing  is  then  laid  over  the  roof  boards,  and  a  double 
course  of  shingles  laid  along  the  lower  edge  of  the  roof.  The 
object  of  this  course  of  shingles  is  to  throw  the  water  from  the 


Colony-community  house  designed  to   accommodate   50   brooder   chicks,    20   head  of 
laying  stock,  or  one  male  and  12  females. 

roof  away  from  the  house.  The  roof  is  then  covered  with  Pa- 
roid,  carefully  put  on  and  allowed  to  project  a  few  inches  at  the 
ends.  This  flap  will  eventually  be  turned  in  and  held  in  place 
by  the  finish. 

The  house  is  supposed  to  face  south.  There  are  two  win- 
dows, one  on  the  south  side  and  one  on  the  east  end.  There  is 
a  door  in  front,  and  a  panel  in  the  rear  which  can  be  raised  or 
lowered  at  will  to  let  the  hens  out  into  the  yard.  After  the 
house  is  finished  all  the  ouiside  woodwork  receives  a  coat  of 
dark  green  paint,  which  forms  an  effective  contrast  with  the 
brick-red  of  the  Neponset  paper.  Indeed,  all  who  see  the 
house  remark  how  neat  and  pretty  it  is. 


16 


INTERIOR  CONSTRUCTION. 

The  interior  of  the  house  is  of  the  very  simplest.  I  have 
learned  from  hard  experience  to  have  as  little  furniture  in  a 
hen  house  as  possible,  and  that  many  of  the  things  advertised 
as  helps  for  poultrymen  are  really  hindrances.  The  house,  as  I 
have  said,  faces  the  south.  The  roosts,  instead  of  being  in  the 
rear,  as  is  commonly  the  case,  are  in  the  west  end,  away  from 
all  possibility  of  draughts.  The  roost  platform  is  two  feet  and 
a  half  above  the  floor,  and  is  constructed  of  dry  matched  pine 
boards,  which  I  get  from  old  dry  goods  boxes.  The  platform, 
as  soon  as  built,  is  covered  with  a  coat  of  hot  tar.  There  are 
two  roosts,  or  perches,  parallel  and  on  the  same  level.  I  forgot 
to  say  that  the  roost  platform  is  three  feet  wide,  which  enables 
me  to  place  my  perches  one  foot  apart  and  one  foot  from  the 
back  wall  and  one  foot  from  the  edge  of  the  platform.  The 
perches  are  of  spruce,  2x3,  with  the  upper  end  slightly  rounded, 
and  set  in  sockets  cut  out  of  boards.  They  are  removable. 
The  perches  are  also  covered  with  hot  tar,  as  are  the  sockets  in 
which  they  are  set.  Red  mites  let  my  houses  severely  alone. 

The  materials  -used  in  the  house  are  as  follows :  Hemlock 
boards,  500  feet;  matched  pine  for  doors,  trimmings,  etc.,  60 
feet;  frame  (board  measure),  100  feet;  windows,  Neponset 
black  sheathing,  250  feet ;  Neponset  red  rope,  250  feet ;  Paroid, 
100  feet ;  hardware,  etc.  The  cost  of  such  a  house,  exclusive  of 
labor,  in  New  Hampshire  to-day  would  be  not  far  from  $20. 
Two  men,  working  together,  can  complete  the  house  in  two 
days.  Such  a  house  always  finds  a  ready  sale,  and  if  the  owner 
wishes  to  move  out  of  town  or  go  out  of  the  hen  business  at 
any  time  he  can  sell  the  house  for  about  half  what  it  cost  him. 

In  case  a  somewhat  larger  house  is  wanted,  the  dimensions 
may  be  enlarged  as  follows :  Length,  14  feet ;  width,  8  feet ; 
height  in  front,  7^  feet ;  height  in  rear,  5^4  feet.  This  will  pre- 
serve the  proportions  and  give  nearly  one-half  more  floor  space. 

HOUSE  MADE  FROM  PIANO  BOXES. 

Possibly  there  are  some  who  desire  even  a  cheaper  house 
than  the  ones  I  have  described.  It  may  be  they  expect  to  re- 
main but  a  short  time  where  they  are,  or  wish  a  house  for 
young  stock,  and  do  not  care  to  invest  even  $20  in  a  building. 
To  such  I  would  say  that  a  good  temporary  house  can  be  made 
from  two  piano  boxes  at  a  cost  of  about  $3.  The  simplest  way 
to  make  such  a  house  is  as  follows :  On  a  level  place  lay  down 


17 


two  joists  eight  feet  long.  Take  the  boxes  and  carefully  remove 
the  boards  on  the  tallest  side.  Spike  the  boxes  to  the  joists 
so  that  the  open  ends  will  face  each  other.  With  the  boards  you 
have  taken  out  close  up  the  gap  between  the  boxes  on  the  back 


Three    Dollar    Poultry    Houses.     Good   summer    buildings,    and    in    a   warm    climate 
suitable    for    winter. 

and  roof.  Put  a  door  in  front,  a  pane  of  glass  on  either  side 
of  the  door,  or  two  panes  in  the  door  itself,  complete  laying  the 
floor,  put  in  a  roost,  cover  the  building  with  good  roofing 
paper,  and  you  will  have  a  good  poultry  house,  which  is  ideal 
for  anyone  who  desires  the  largest  return  from  his  investment 
at  a  trifling  cost. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Sanitation  as  a  Factor  in  Egg  Production. 


Sanitation  is  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  egg  pro- 
duction. As  blossom  and  fruit  are  the  culmination  of  the  tree's 
activities  so  the  egg  is  the  culmination  of  the  activities  of  the 
hen.  The  hen  cannot  lay  heavily  unless  she  is  in  perfect  physi- 
cal condition.  One  of  the  ways  in  which  disease  first  reveals 
itself  is  in  the  dropping  off  of  the  egg  product.  The  poultryman 
who  desires  the  largest  return  from  his  investment  must  make 
a  careful  study  of  sanitation. 

A  SANITARY  HOUSE. 

The  style  of  house  a  man  builds  will  depend  something 
upon  his  means  and  personal  preferences.  There  are  houses 
costing  thousands  of  dollars,  and  there  are  houses  built  for  less 
than  a  dollar  a  running  foot.  I  have  known  hens  to  do  well  in 
houses  made  of  piano  boxes,  costing,  when  completed,  three 
dollars  apiece.  But  whether  the  house  is  cheap  or  dear,  elab- 
orate or  simple,  it  should  have. three  characteristics: 

1.  It  must  be  dry.    Dampness  is  fatal  to  fowls.  Roup,  rheu- 
matism and  kindred  evils  go  with  a  damp  house.     The  house 
should  always  be  built  in  ample  season  so  that  it  may  thor- 
oughly be  dried  out  before  winter,  and  unless  the  ground  on 
which  it  stands  is  as  dry  as  powder  it  should  have  a  board  floor. 

2.  The  house  should  be  warm.     Nature  has  provided  the 
hen  with  an  ample  covering  of  feathers,  and  she  will  not  freeze 
even  if  the  temperature  falls  far  below  zero.    But  under  such 
conditions  she  will  lay  but  few  eggs.     How  can  she?    All  her 
food  goes  toward  making  caloric,  and  there  is  no  surplus  for 
anything  else.     In  a  properly  constructed  house  there  is  no 
need  for  any  artificial  heat.     A  house  should  be  built  so  that 
in  the  coldest  weather  water  will  not  freeze  solid  in  it.     If  it 
does  a  curtain  should  be  provided  to  drop  down  behind  the 
hens  and  shut  them  in  when  they  are  on  the  roosts. 

3.  The  house  should  be  sunny.  Hens  love  the  slin.  See 
them- stand  in  the  path  of  sunlight  on  the  morning  of  a  clear, 
bright  winter  day.  The  house  should  face  the  south  or  south- 
east, whenever  possible.  There  should  not  be  too  many  win- 


19 


dows,  for  windows  let  the  heat  out  as  they  let  it  in,  and  the 
difference  in  temperature  between  noon  and  night  is  too  great. 

KEEP  THE  HOUSE  CLEAN. 

Cleanliness  is  the  most  important  element  in  sanitation. 
Disease  germs  find  in  filth  a  congenial  soil.  The  hen  house 
cannot  be  kept  too  clean !  The  room  in  which  hens  are  con- 
fined plays  many  parts — it  is  their  sleeping  room,  dining  room, 
workshop,  their  bath  room  and  water  closet.  Suppose  a  large 
family  to  be  shut  up  in  one  room  and  obliged  to  use  it  for 
every  purpose.  Do  you  not  see  how  careful  they  would  have 
to  be  to  escape  disease?  It  is  a  wonder  to  me  how  hens  man- 
age to  live  through  the  winter  in  the  majority  of  houses,  to  say 
nothing  of  laying  eggs. 

The  hen  house  should  have  its  daily,  weekly,  monthly  and 
yearly  cleaning.  The  windows  should  be  opened  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day  for  two  or  three  hours  on  every  day  in  winter 
when  the  sun  is  shining.  The  droppings  under  the  roots 
should  be  removed  every  morning!  When  poultrymen  re- 
alize that  poultry  manure  is  a  virulent  poison  and  should  not 
be  allowed  to  pollute  the  houses  or  the  yards  where  the  hens 
are  kept,  they  will  make  a  great  step  toward  success.  It  takes 
but  a  few  minutes  to  a  house  to  remove  the  droppings,  and  the 
gain  in  looks  and  in  wholesomeness  is  worth  the  cost.  After 
the  droppings  are  removed  the  dropping  board  should  be 
sprinkled  lightly  with  earth,  coal  ashes  or  land  plaster. 

Once  a  week,  summer  or  winter,  the  drinking  vessels 
should  be  scalded  out,  and  once  a  week  in  winter  the  litter 
should  be  shaken  up,  and  if  you  have  a  board  floor,  the  dust 
and  dirt  that  settles  to  the  bottom  should  be  removed.  If  the 
floor  is  of  earth  the  surface  droppings  should  be  taken  out  and 
the  earth  raked  up. 

Once  a  month  the  cleaning  should  be  more  thorough.  The 
litter  should  be  renewed,  and  the  floor  swept.  The  roosts 
should  be  kerosened  and  in  summer  the  walls  around  the  roosts 
sprayed  with  kerosene  or  with  a  kerosene  emulsion.  Nest 
boxes  should  be  emptied,  painted  with  a  good  lice  killer,  and 
.when  dried  out  filled  about  one-third  full  of  dry  planer  shav- 
ings. The  dust  box  should  receive  attention. 

The  annual  cleaning  is  still  more  radical.  On  some  sunny 
day  in  autumn — the  earlier  the  better — shut  the  hens  out  in 
their  yards  and  begin  work  upon  their  quarters.  Everything 
movable  in  the  house  should  be  taken  outside.  Sweep  the  dust 


20 


and  cobwebs  off  the  walls,  windows  and  ceiling.  Sweep  the 
floor,  if  you  have  one.  The  walls  should  then  receive  a  gen- 
erous coat  of  hot  whitewash,  put  on  with  a  spray  pump  to  save 
time.  A  good  receipt  for  whitewash  is  as  follows :  Take  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  lime,  slack  it  slowly  and  wet  enough  to 
make  into  a  thick  putty.  Let  it  stand  in  this  shape  a  few  hours 
or  a  few  days,  and  then  reduce  it  with  water  to  the  thickness 
desired.  Add  one  pint  of  crude  carbolic  acid  to  every  12-quart 
pailful,  and  you  will  have  a  combination  that  will  be  death  to 
lice.  Sprinkle  the  floor  with  napcreol  or  some  other  disinfect- 
ant, kerosene  the  roosts,  paint  the  nest  boxes  with  some  good 
lice  killer,  cover  the  dropping  board  with  a  coat  of  hot  tar — in 
short,  give  the  house  a  thorough  cleaning. 

LICE  AND  RED  MITES. 

Relentless  and  persistent  war  must  be  waged  against  lice 
and  red  mites.  The  poultryman  who  keeps  his  house  in  the 
sanitary  condition  I  have  described  is  apt  to  think  that  the  bat- 
tle is  won,  that  there  is  nothing  more  to  do.  Such  is  not  the 
case.  The  foe  is  hiding;  it  is  not  destroyed.  There  comes 
a  falling  off  in  egg  production,  and  the  poultryman  wonders 
what  is  the  cause.  "Lice,"  says  a  too  candid  friend.  The  poul- 
tryman waxes  indignant.  "I'll  give  you  a  dollar  apiece  for 
every  louse  you  find  on  my  hens !"  he  exclaims.  The  friend 
takes  a  hen  off  the  nest,  and  holds  her  up  toward  the  light. 
"Pull  apart  the  fluff  around  the  vent,"  he  commands.  The 
poultryman  does  so,  and,  lo !  a  covey  of  lice  may  be  seen  cutting 
to  cover  in  the  dense  jungle  of  soft  feathers. 

Where  a  big  record  is  desired  the  hens  must  not  be  left  to 
rid  themselves  of  lice  by  their  own  efforts,  but  must  be  dusted 
from  time  to  time.  The  poultryman  can  make  his  own  insect 
powder  cheaper  than  he  can  buy  it,  but  where  only  a  few  hens 
are  kept  it  will  not  pay  him  to  do  so.  Lambert's  "Death  to 
Lice"  and  Cyphers  Lice  Powder  are  standard  preparations.  If 
the  poultryman  wishes  to  make  his  own  powder  here  are  two 
formulas  that  may  be  depended  upon : 

1.  Take  one  pint  of  slacked  lime  and  stir  into  it  one  ounce 
liquid  carbolic  acid.  Add  to  this  mixture  three  pounds  finely 
ground  tobacco  and  mix  thoroughly.  This  powder  dusted 
wherever  lice  are  will  kill  them.  2.  Take  five  pounds  strong 
tobacco  dust,  one  pound  airslacked  lime,  one-half  pound  naph- 
thalene— mix  well  together.  This  is  sure  death  to  hen  lice, 
plant  lice,  lice  on  cattle,  sheep  ticks,  bedbugs,  ants,  moths,  etc. 


21 


Lice  paint  is  a  liquid  preparation,  and  is  used  for  painting 
roosts,  nests,  etc. 

The  fumes  penetrate  the  feathers  of  the  bird  and  kill  the 
lice.  Lee's  Lice  Killer  and  Cyphers  Surekil  Lice  Paint  are 
highly  recommended.  A  good  lice  paint  is  made  by  dissolving 
one  pound  naphthalene  flakes  in  one  gallon  kerosene  oil. 

Red  mites  make  their  homes  on  the  underside  of  the  roosts 
and  in  cracks  and  crevices  adjacent.  They  are  quiet  by  day, 
but  by  night  come  forth  to  suck  the  life  blood  of  their  victims. 
The  kerosene  treatment,  which  I  have  already  described,  is 
sure  death  to  red  mites,  and  it  is  folly  not  to  exterminate  them. 

TO  RID  A  HOUSE  OF  VERMIN. 

Sometimes  through  carelessness  or  neglect  a  house  becomes 
infested  with  vermin,  and  then  radical  measures  are  necessary. 
In  the  first  place  the  house  should  be  thoroughly  fumigated. 
Close  every  door  and  window,  and  see  that  there  are  no  cracks 
or  apertures  to  admit  air.  Burn  a  pound  of  sulphur  for  every 
100  square  feet  of  floor  space  in  the  house,  thus :  a  house  10x10 
will  require  one  pound  of  sulphur ;  one  20x10  two  pounds ;  one 
30x10  three  pounds,  and  so  on.  The  sulphur  must  be  burned  in 
iron  vessels,  which  must  be  set  on  gravel  or  sand,  so  that  there 
can  be  no  danger  from  fire.  Into  each  vessel  put  a  handful  of 
carpenter's  shaving,  saturated  with  kerosene,  and  upon  these 
sprinkle  the  sulphur.  Place  the  vessels  in  position,  apply  a 
match  to  the  shavings,  and  hastily  leave  the  house,  closing  the 
door  behind  you.  Do  not  open  the  house  again  for  five  hours, 
when  every  door  and  window  should  be  thrown  wide  open.  In 
case  you  feel  any  anxiety  about  fire,  you  can  look  in  through  a 
window  once  in  a  while  to  see  that  everything  is  going  well. 

After  the  fumes  of  sulphur  have  been  driven  out,  with  a 
hand  sprayer,  go  through  the  house,  sending  a  spray  of  kero- 
sene everywhere.  These  sprayers  can  be  bought  for  half  a  dol- 
lar each,  will  last  for  years,  and  are  simply  invaluable.  All  the 
time  you  have  been  at  work  the  hens  have  been  in  the  yard 
outside,  without  food,  and  are  now  anxious  to  return  to  their 
home.  Let  them  in,  one  by  one,  and  as  each  enters  catch  her 
and  dust  her  well  with  some  good  insecticide. 

GIVE  THE  HENS  PLENTY  OF  ROOM. 

There  is  a  snare  spread  for  beginners  in  the  poultry  busi- 
ness which  catches  nearly  all ;  it  is  to  crowd  the  birds.  The 


22 


prospective  poultryman  has  a  small  flock  and  they  have  laid 
well.  He  begins  to  reason  like  this :  "I  have  kept  twelve  hens 
in  the  pen  the  past  year  and  they  have  netted  me  $2.00  apiece. 
All  I  have  to  do  to  increase  my  income  is  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  my  birds.  If  twelve  hens  have  paid  $24,  fifty  hens  will 
pay  me  $100."  This  seems  logical,  and  the  prospective  poultry- 
man goes  to  work  and  puts  in  fifty  birds,  only  to  find  at  the 
end  of  the  year  that  the  fifty  birds  have  not  paid  him  so  well 
as  the  twelve  did.  They  have  laid  no  more  eggs,  and  sickness 
has  been  rife  among  them.  More  men  lose  money  and  retire 
from  the  poultry  business  in  disgust  from  losses  brought  about 
by  putting  too  many  birds  into  one  pen  than  from  any  other 
cause. 

The  farmer  would  not  think  of  putting  two  cows  in  one 
stall.  He  would  not  plant  his  potatoes  in  rows  one  foot  apart. 
He  would  not  shut  up  his  family  in  one  room.  Why  should  he 
not  display  the  same  good  sense  in  dealing  with  his  fowls? 
Experience  has  shown  that  10  square  feet  of  floor  space  is 
about  the  amount  needed  by  each  hen  if  she  is  to  do  her  best. 
Where  the  house  is  kept  perfectly  clean,  and  where  the  hens 
have  a  chance  to  get  out  of  doors  every  pleasant  day,  they  can 
get  along  with  a  somewhat  smaller  space.  But  for  the  best 
results  in  egg  producing  there  must  be  plenty  of  room.  The 
year  I  made  the  phenomenal  record  with  my  White  Wyan- 
dottes — 214  eggs  apiece  from  October  to  October — I  knocked 
out  the  partitions  between  two  pens  and  gave  the  flock  double 
room. 

DUST  BATH. 

Provide  your  hens  with  a  dust  bath.  They  will  spend  many 
happy  hours  wallowing  in  the  warm  earth  and  will  keep  them- 
selves reasonably  free  from  lice.  But  do  not  trust  to  the  dust 
bath  entirely,  for  in  the  dead  of  winter  the  bath  is  often  so  cold 
that  the  biddies  will  not  use  it,  and  then  lice  will  get  in  their 
work.  Soil  out  of  the  garden,  sifted  through  a  common  coal 
sieve,  makes  the  best  material  for  a  dust  bath  that  I  know  any- 
thing about.  Next  to  this  I  rank  coal  ashes.  The  bath  tub 
may  be  a  sugar  barrel,  sawed  off  about  a  foot  from  the  bottom 
and  set  in  a  sunny  place,  or  one  of  those  shallow  square  boxes 
that  cereal  foods  come  in,  which  may  generally  be  obtained  of 
the  grocer  for  the  asking. 

EXERCISE. 

Hens  need  a  reasonable  amount  of  exercise.  They  do  not 
need  to  be  kept  on  the  jump  from  morning  until  night,  but  they 


23 


do  need  enough  exercise  to  keep  them  in  good  trim.  Where 
hens  have  free  range  they  will  attend  to  the  matter  of  exercise 
themselves — although  a  hen  having  free  range  knows  enough 
not  to  work  when  it  is  very  hot  or  very  cold.  But  when  in  con- 
finement exercise  must  be  provided  for  them.  The  floor  of  the 
hen  house,  or  scratching  shed,  should  be  kept  carpeted  with  six 
inches  of  litter  in  winter,  and  the  fowls  should  be  made  to  work 
for  all  the  grain  they  eat.  This  litter,  as  I  have  already  said, 
should  be  frequently  shaken  up  and  occasionally  renewed. 
Straw,  fresh  hay  and  dead  leaves  make  the  best  litter.  Dry 
planer  shavings  are  good  if  they  are  not  allowed  to  become 
too  fine. 

THE  POULTRY  YARD. 

In  summer  the  hens  should  be  out  in  their  yards.  The  yard 
does  not  need  to  be  very  large.  Indeed,  unless  the  yard  is  large 
enough  to  grow  all  the  green  stuff  that  is  needed  for  forage,  a 
small  yard  is  better  than  a  large  one,  for  it  is  more  likely  to  be 
kept  clean.  Much  money  is  spent  each  year  for  wire  netting 
and  foundation  boards  for.  fences  that  could  be  laid  out  to  much 
better  advantage  in  some  other  way.  There  should  be  shade 
of  some  kind  in  the  yard.  If  the  yard  is  small  it  should  be 
raked  and  swept  every  week  and  the  surface  droppings  re- 
moved. It  should  be  spaded  up  from  time  to  time.  In  the 
spring  the  surface  soil  to  the  depth  of  three  or  four  inches 
should  be  removed  and  spread  on  the  garden  and  replaced  with 
fresh  earth.  If  this  is  done  there  is  much  less  danger  with  a 
small  yard  than  with  a  big  one  that  is  never  cleaned. 

GRIT,  CHARCOAL  AND  OYSTER  SHELLS. 

Nature  has  not  provided  fowls  with  teeth,  and  consequently 
they  cannot  masticate  their  food  as  can  the  higher  animals. 
The  food  passes  from  the  crop  into  the  gizzard,  where  it  is 
prepared  for  the  intestines  by  trituration ;  that  is,  as  the  food 
passes  through  the  gizzard  it  is  triturated,  or  ground  up,  by  the 
little  flinty  particles  which  line  that  member.  Unless  the  fowl 
is  well  supplied  with  grit  the  food  passes  into  the  intestines- 
improperly  prepared,  and  the  result  is  indigestion.  It  is  a  great 
mistake  not  to  keep  the  fowls  well  supplied  with  grit.  Char- 
coal is  an  alterative  tonic,  and  should  be  before  the  hens  all  the 
time.  Oyster  shells  are  necessary  to  supply  the  lime  needed 
for  the  egg  shells,  and  nothing  can  take  their  place. 


24 


DRINKING  WATER. 

Pure  drinking  water  is  as  necessary  to  the  health  and  com- 
fort of  fowls  as  it  is  to  the  health  and  comfort  of  human  beings, 
and  should  be  supplied  in  abundance.  The  water  dishes  should 
be  scalded  out  from  time  to  time,  and  if  a  few  drops  of  carbolic 
acid  are  added  to  the  water  with  which  they  are  scalded  so 
much  the  better.  Have  your  water  dish  as  simple  as  possible. 
There  is  nothing  better  than  a  two-quart  treasure,  made  of 
galvanized  iron,  set  on  a  little  shelf  by  the  door  of  the  hen 
house  and  six  inches  from  the  floor. 

SANITATION  IN  SUMMER. 

It  has  been  my  observation  that  hens  that  are  kept  shut  up 
in  houses  and  yards  suffer  more  from  lack  of  sanitation  in  sum- 
mer than  in  winter.  There  are  a  hundred  directions  printed  tor 
making  the  house  warm  to  one  for  making  it  cool.  And  yet 
anyone  who  has  watched  a  hen  on  a  hot  day  in  mid-summer, 
with  mouth  wide  open  and  wings  outspread,  must  realize  that 
the  poor  creature  is  far  from  comfortable.  Houses  built  on  the 
•colony-community  plan,  such  as  I  have  already  described,  are 
ideal  houses  for  summer  as  well  as  for  winter,  as  there  is  a  win- 
dow in  the  front  and  on  the  end.  As  soon  as  warm  weather 
comes  I  take  out  both  windows,  letting  the  air  circulate  freely 
through  the  house.  Poultry  wire  tacked  on  the  outside  of  the 
window  frame  keeps  the  biddies  in  and  the. "varmints"  out. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Feeding  for  Two  Hundred  Eggs  a  Year. 


We  now  have  our  hens  in  a  dry,  warm,  sunny  and  sanitary 
"house,  have  supplied  them  with  facilities  for  keeping  clean, 
and,  of  course,  want  them  to  lay.  What  shall  we  feed  and  how 
much  ?  This  is  an  important  question,  for  unless  a  hen  is  sup- 
plied with  material  for  egg  production  she  cannot  lay.  She 
can  no  more  produce  eggs  without  the  proper  food  than  a  fac- 
tory can  turn  out  the  finished  product  without  raw  materials. 
What  shall  we  feed  and  how  much  shall  we  feed,  therefore? 

Let  us  again  follow  Lord  Bacon's  advice  and  interrogate 
Nature.  Suppose  we  take  a  hen  as  she  comes  up  to  the  house 
at  the  close  of  a  long  day  in  summer  from  foraging  in  the 
fields,  kill  her,  take  out  her  crop  and  analyze  its  contents.  If 
we  do  so  it  is  obvious  that  we  shall  obtain  at  least  a  part 
of  the  information  we  are  after,  for  a  hen  lays  in  summer 
or  not  at  all. 

What  do  we  find  as  the  result  of  our  analysis?  The  crop 
we  are  dissecting  has  about  as  many  articles  in  it  as  the 
average  small  boy's  pocket,  and  they  are  equally  miscellaneous. 
We  find  grains  of  corn  that  the  hen  has  picked  up  about  the 
barn,  pieces  of  bread  and  table  waste  that  she  has  found 
under  the  sink  spout,  clover  leaves  and  tips  of  grass  blades, 
bugs,  worms  and  a  mass  of  matter  that  we  cannot  resolve 
into  the  original  elements.  The  first  thing  that  impresses 
us  as  the  result  of  our  analysis  is  that  the  hen  seeks  variety, 
this  mass  of  miscellaneous  matter  that  we  found  in  the  hen's 
crop  can  be  arranged  in  three  divisions :  First,  Grain.  Sec- 
ond, Green  food  and  vegetables.  Third,  Animal  food — in  the 
form  of  bugs,  worms,  and  so  forth.  The  conclusion  is  irresist- 
ible, that  these  three  elements  must  be  combined  if  we  would 
have  a  perfect  ration. 

How  shall  we  combine  them?  The  answer  is  not  so  diffi- 
cult as  one  would  at  first  suppose.  There  are  many  ways. 
The  hen  makes  a  new  combination  every  day.  Perhaps  the 
ideal  way  is  to  have  no  stereotyped  method,  but  to  study  vari- 
ety. If  we  combine  grain,  green  food  and  meat  in  the  daily 
ration,  the  hen  can  hardly  fail  to  respond  with  a  goodly  output 
of  eggs. 


26 


FEEDING  FOR  EGGS:     HOW  MUCH? 

The  problem,  as  every  poultryman  knows,  is  not  what  to 
feed,  but  how  much.  If  you  do  not  believe  this  write  to  the 
editor  of  your  favorite  poultry  paper  and  ask  him'  how  much 
food  you  shall  give  a  flock  of  15  hens,  and  see  what  he  will  say. 
It  takes  a  great  deal  of  skill  to  steer  between  overfeeding  on  the 
one  hand  and  underfeeding  on  the  other.  I  believe,  however, 
that  there  is  a. scientific  principle  underlying  the  matter,  and 
think  that  after  a  great  deal  of  study  and  experimentation  I 
have  discovered  the  principle. 

In  order  to  determine  how  much  we  should  feed  we  must 
again  interrogate  Nature.  Before  we  began  to  dissect  the  crop 
of  the  hen  we  had  killed,  suppose  we  had  put  it  on  the  scales 
to  ascertain  its  weight.  If  the  hen  from  which  the  crop  was 
taken  was  of  an  American  breed,  if  she  had  been  running  in 
the  fields  all  day  and  just  before  she  had  been  killed  had  been 
given  all  the  corn  that  she  would  eat,  her  crop  with  its  contents 
would  not  weigh  far  from  six  ounces.  Allowing  that  two 
ounces  of  food  have  passed  into  the  intestines,  it  will  be  seen 
that  when  a  hen  is  on  the  range,  supplied  with  abundance  of 
food,  she  will  consume  about  eight  ounces  of  food  in  the  course 
of  twenty-four  hours.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  this  is 
about  the  amount  a  hen  needs  to  supply  all  the  demands  of  her 
system  and  leave  a  margin  for  egg  production.  But  before  we 
settle  down  to  this  conclusion  there  are  some  things  to  be 
taken  into  consideration.  On  the  range  the  hen  has  had  plenty 
of  exercise,  and  needs  more  food  to  supply  the  tissue  lost  than 
when  in  confinement.  On  the  range  food  is  more  bulky  and 
less  nutritious  than  the  food  the  hen  receives  in  her  pen.  It 
contains  a  larger  proportion  of  grass  and  vegetables.  It  is 
probable  that  in  the  pen,  where  the  hen  does  not  exercise  so 
freely  as  she  does  on  the  range  and  where  her  food  is  more 
concentrated,  she  does  not  need  so  much  food  by  one-fourth 
as  she  does  when  at  liberty.  Six  ounces  of  food  a  day  ought, 
therefore,  to  be  ample  to  supply  all  -the  needs  of  a  hen  in  con- 
finement. 

Six  ounces  of  food  a  day  for  a  hen  weighing  six  pounds 
seems  at  first  sight  an  enormous  quantity.  In  the  same  ratio  a 
man  weighing  160  pounds  would  consume  10  pounds  of  food 
every  twenty-four  hours.  But  before  we  dismiss  the  matter 
as  absurd  let  us  consider  a  moment.  The  hen's  food  is  not  so 
concentrated  as  the  man's.  It  contains  far  less  nutriment  in 
proportion  to  bulk.  A  considerable  proportion  of  it  will  be 


27 


voided  in  the  form  of  excrement.  Then  the  hen  has  a. task  to 
perform  such  as  is  imposed  upon  few  other  creatures.  She  is 
expected  to  lay  an  egg  weighing  not  less  than  two  ounces ; 
and  an  egg,  as  everyone  knows,  is  one  of  the  richest  of  food 
products.  Deduct  from  the  six  ounces  of  food  two  ounces  for 
waste  and  two  ounces  for  egg  production,  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  only  two  ounces  are  left  to  repair  the  tissues  and  maintain 
the  temperature  of  the  body.  The  laying  hen  needs  a  generous 
diet,  and  those  doctrinaires  who  advocate  keeping  her  in  a 
state  of  semi-starvation  have  not  support  in  reason  for  their 
theory. 

FEEDING  FOR  EGGS:    WINTER  METHOD. 

Having  given  my  readers  the  principles  that  apply  to  feed- 
ing, I  propose  now  to  tell  them  how  I  put  these  principles  into 
practice.  I  desire  to  state  here  that  I  have  no  patent  methods. 
I  aim  to  apply  common  sense  to  the  problem  of  egg  production, 
as  I  do  other  things ;  but  I  do  not  claim  to  have  a  monopoly 
of  wisdom.  There  are  doubtless  other  methods  as  good  as  mine. 
As  I  said  in  a  preceding  section,  there  are  many  possible  com- 
binations that  will  produce  good  results.  I  give  you  mine,  and 
leave  you  to  adopt  it  or  not  as  you  think  best. 

From  October  to  May  I  feed  as  follows:  A  mash  the  first 
thing  in  the  morning.  The  mash  is  made  as  I  am  about  to  de- 
scribe. Into  an  iron  kettle  holding  12  quarts  I  put  two  quarts 
(dry  measure)  cut  clover,  two  quarts  mixed  feed  or  wheat 
bran,  two  quarts  corn  meal,  one  quart  green  ground  bone  or 
beef  scraps,  and  one  quart  table  scraps.  The  ingredients  are 
thoroughly  mixed  together.  I  then  take  the  kettle  into  the 
house  and  set  it  on  the  range,  where  the  meal  can  become 
warm.  I  next  stir  in  a  heaping  teaspoonful  of  salt,  and  in  the 
coldest  weather  sprinkle  in  a  little  black  pepper.  Boiling  water 
is  then  added  to  the  mash  in  just  sufficient  quantity  to  moisten 
every  particle  and  yet  not  have  it  sticky  and  sloppy.  I  con- 
sider the  mash  just  right  to  feed  when  I  can  take  some  up  in 
my  hand  and  have  it  feel  pleasantly  warm  (not  hot),  and  dry 
enough  so  that  it  will  not  adhere  to  the  palm  or  fingers.  Some 
advocate  dry  feeding.  I  have  no  doubt  the  food  is  just  as 
nourishing  without  the  water,  and  after  they  become  accus- 
tomed to  it  (or  starved  into  it)  the  hens  will  eat  it  readily 
enough ;  but  before  the  food  can  be  digested  it  must  be  mois- 
tened, and  I  think  it  better  and  safer  to  moisten  it  for  the 
birds  myself  than  to  allow  them  to  do  so.  I  do  not  believe 


28 


the  bird  can  moisten  a  large  handful  of  dry  mixture  after  it 
enters  the  crop  so  evenly  as  I  can  before  it  goes  there.  Then 
if  the  mash  is  about  the  temperature  of  the  bird's  body  when 
it  is  fed  (or,  on  cold  mornings,  a  little  higher)  she  will  not 
have  to  use  up  her  heat  in  raising  it  to  that  temperature. 

FEED  ALL  THE  HENS  WILL  EAT  UP  CLEAN. 

I  feed  all  the  mash  the  hens  will  eat  up  clean  in  a  reason- 
able time — say  from  15  minutes  to  half  an  hour.    Then  I  go 
through  the  pens  and  empty  what  is  left  (if  anything)  back 
into  the  kettle  to  be  fed  the  next  day.   At  11  o'clock  I  make  a 
round  of  the  pens  to  collect  the  eggs  and  look  after  the  birds. 
On  this  trip  I  take  with  me  green  food  of  some  sort — mangel 
worzels,  cabbages,  apples  or  onions — and  leave  in  each  pen 
the  amount  that  experience  has  shown  me  the  birds  will  eat  up 
clean.    About  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  make  the  round  of 
the  pens  again.   I  have  told  you  that  in  each  pen  I  keep  a  male 
and  12 -females,  and  on  this  trip  in  the  early  afternoon  I  throw 
down  in  the  deep  litter  one  quart  (dry  measure)  of  grain  of 
some  kind.     The  three  grains  I  feed  are  wheat,  cracked  corn 
and  oats.     I  study  to  give  variety.    On  a  mild  afternoon  I  feed 
all  oats  or  all  wheat,  on  a  moderately  cold  afternoon,  about 
half  cracked  corn  and  about  hal"f  wheat  or  oats,  and  on  a  very 
cold  afternoon,  cracked  corn  alone.     When  I  get  home  from 
making  pastoral  calls  it  is  generally  dusk  and«the  hens  have 
gone  to  roost.  Before  supper  I  go  through  each  pen  to  see  that 
the  birds  are  all  right  for  the  night.    I  empty  the  water  dishes, 
collect  any  eggs  that  may  be  in  the  nests,  pause  a  moment  in 
each  house  to  see  that  the  birds  are  breathing  right  (no  colds 
nor  bronchitis)  and  occasionally  feel  of  the  crops  to  see  if  I 
am  feeding  enough.     If  the  crop  is  comfortably  full — neither 
distended  on  the  one  hand  nor  nearly  empty  on  the  other — I 
conclude  that  the  grain  ration  is  about  right  so  far  as  quantity 
is   concerned. 

STUDY  VARIETY. 

I  have  given  the  ingredients  of  my  standard  morning  mash, 
but  I  vary  these  ingredients  from  time  to  time.  I  don't  want 
the  same  thing  for  breakfast  every  morning,  and  I  don't  believe 
my  birds  do.  About  twice  a  week  I  substitute  gluten  meal  or 
linseed  meal  for  green  ground  bone  or  meat  scraps ;  and  once 
in  a  while  I  give  a  breakfast  of  scalded  oats — the  oats  scalded 


29 

the  night  before  and  allowed  to  stand  on  the  back  of  the  stove 
where  they  will  be  warm  and  nice  in  the  morning.  Occasion- 
ally I  give  a  breakfast  made  up  of  three  parts  by  bulk  of  Biles' 
Fourex*  and  one  part  by  bulk  of  corn  meal.  When  I  have 
plenty  of  small  potatoes  I  make  up  a  dish  composd  of  boiled 
mashed  potatoes,  green  ground  bone  and  mixed  feed  or  bran, 
which  the  fowls  eat  with  avidity.  I  put  in  about  four  quarts 
'potatoes,  two  quarts  green  ground  bone  and  two  quarts  mixed 
feed  or  bran — season  and  serve  hot.  The  table  scraps,  which 
I  feed  every  morning,  add  variety  to  my  standard  ration. 

*HiI«'s'    Fourex    (XXXX)    is  a  by-product  from  distillers'   grain*.      Very  rich  in  fat  and 
protein.     A   valuable  new  food,   when  mixed  with  one-third  its  bulk  of  corn  meal. 

FEEDING  FOR  EGGS— SUMMER  METHOD. 

Mv  method  of  feeding  in  summer  is  substantially  the  same 
as  it  is  in  winter,  except  that  corn  is  struck  entirely  off  my  list 
and  wheat  and  oats  made  to  take  its  place.  In  summer,  too,  I 
give  my  hens  grass  and  weeds  from  the  garden  for  green  food, 
instead  of  mangels,  cabbages,  apples  and  onions.  We  are  for- 
tunate here  in  Hampton  in  having  close  at  hand  an  inexhausti- 
ble supply  of  food  not  usually  found.  Every  northeast  storm 
washes  up  on  the  beach  tons  and  tons  of  seaweed,  which  may 
be  had  for  the  hauling.  A  load  of  seaweed  dumped  into  a  yard 
in  summer  will  breed  millions  of  small  white  worms,  which 
the  fowls  eat  greedily.  These  worms,  or  maggots,  are  said  to 
be  better  for  the  hens  than  wheat,  and  certainly  form  a  very 
cheap  addition  to  the  daily  bill  of  fare. 

FEEDING   FOR   EGGS— CAUTION. 

In  what  goes  before  I  have  given  my  method  of  feeding 
but  this  method  will  need  to  be  adapted  to  individual  cases.  No 
hard  and  fast  rule  can  be  laid  down.  The  poultryman  must 
study  his  flock,  and  learn  by  experience — he  must  mix  brains 
with  his  mash.  The  large  criticism  that  will  be  made  is  that  I 
feed  too  heavy  and  do  not  make  my  birds  exercise  enough. 
Bear  in  mind,  however,  that  I  have  been  talking  about  laying 
stock.  Birds  that  are  kept  over  for  breeding  are  fed  the  same 
things  that  I  feed  my  laying  stock,  but  are  not  fed  so  much  and 
are  made  to  exercise  more.  In  one  case  I  am  after  eggs  and  a 
good  many  of  them ;  in  the  other,  I  am  after  fertile  eggs — that 
will  hatch  strong  chicks.  If  you  notice  that  your  birds  are  be- 
coming fat  and  lazy,  drop  an  occasional  soft-shelled  egg,  and 


30 


that  their  combs  instead  of  being  a  healthy  red  are  a  dull  pur- 
ple, reduce  the  ration  at  once  and  set  the  birds  to  work — other- 
wise you  will  have  dead  hens  on  your  hands.  About  the  time 
of  feeding  the  mash,  it  don't  make  a  cent's  worth  of  difference 
whether  you  feed  morning,  noon  or  night,  so  long  as  you  feed 
•enough  and  feed  the  right  things. 

THE  GOLDEN  RULE  FOR  FEEDING. 

Give  the  hen  a  sufficient  variety  and  quantity  to  meet  all 
the  needs  of  her  system  and  leave  a  margin  for  egg  production. 
A  warm  mash  in  the  morning,  all  she  will  eat  with  good  relish 
in  fifteen  minutes  to  half  an  hour.  Enough  grain  during  the 
day  so  that  she  .will  go  to  roost  with  a  crop  moderately  full, 
neither  distended  on  the  one  hand  nor  nearly  empty  on  the 
other.  Green  food,  either  in  mash  or  separately.  More  heating 
food  in  winter  and  more  of  it  than  in  summer.  In  general,  it 
may  be  said  that  one  ounce  of  food  for  each  pound  she  weighs 
is  about  right  for  the  average  hen. 

HOW  SOME  SUCCESSFUL  MEN  FEED. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Dunlap,  West  Salisbury,  N.  H.— One  of  the  most 
remarkable  poultry  men  that  I  know  anything  about  is  Mr.  B. 
F.  Dunlap  of  West  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  who  keeps  from  450  to 
500  head  of  laying  stock  (White  Wyandottes  and  Rhode 
Island  Reds)  and  clears  up  a  profit  of  $1,000  yearly.  Mr.  Dun- 
lap  lives  five  miles  from  the  nearest  railroad,  and  makes  his 
profits  from  eggs,  which  he  markets  in  Boston. 

"Every  day  something  different,"  is  the  principle  he  goes 
on,  as  expressed  in  his  own  words.  He  has  four  combinations, 
which  he  names  from  the  leading  articles  in  each :  Boiled  pota- 
toes, waste  bread,  clover  hay,  whole  oats.  The  four  combina- 
tions are  as  follows,  enough  kettlesful  being  mixed  up  to  feed 
the  whole  flock: 

1.  Boiled  potatoes,  soaked  over  night,  8  quarts;  gluten, 
soaked  over  night,  3  quarts.  In  the  morning  add  mixed  feed,  2 
quarts ;  corn  and  oats,  ground  and  mixed  together,  2  quarts. 

2  Waste  bread,  soaked  over  night,  8  quarts ;  beef  scraps,  2 
quarts ;  corn  and  oats,  2  quarts. 

3.  Clover  hay,  soaked  over  night.     In  the  morning  add  2 
quarts  flour  middlings,  2  quarts  boiled  beef  and  bone,  2  quarts 
corn  and  oats. 

4.  Whole  oats,  soaked  over  night,  8  quarts ;  gluten,  soaked 


31 


-over  night,  4  quarts.     In  the  morning  add  2  quarts  shorts,  1 
quart  beef  and  bone,  2  quarts  corn  and  oats. 

The  mash  is  fed  in  the  morning,  and  the  hens  are  given 
all  they  will  eat  up  clean  in  ten  minutes.  The  second  and  last 
meal  comes  at  noon,  and  is  grain  of  some  kind. 

The  day  Mr.  Dunlap  feeds  boiled  potatoes  the  hens  have 
wheat.  The  day  he  feeds  waste  bread  they  have  wheat  or 
cracked  corn.  The  day  he  feeds  clover  hay  they  have  cracked 
corn.  And  the  day  he  feeds  oats  and  gluten  they  have  cracked 
corn  or  buckwheat.  The  grain  is  thrown  into  the  sand  and 
litter  in  each  pen,  and  the  hens  have  to  scratch  for  it.  Mr. 
Dunlap  does  not  give  the  hens  all  the  grain  they  can  eat,  but 
as  much  as  they  can  digest  and  come  to  breakfast  the  next 
morning  with  an  empty  crop  and  a  good  appetite.  Whole  tur- 
nips are  kept  in  the  pens  all  the  time,  so  that  the  hens  can  get 
a  taste  of  green  food  when  they  want  it. 


Mr.  G.  M.  Gowell  of  the  Maine  Experiment  Station  is  do- 
ing some  excellent  work  with  hens.  Mr.  Gowell  is  the  origina- 
tor of  the  trap  nest  described  in  this  book,  and  keeps  individual 
records.  He  breeds  White  Wyandottes  and  Barred  Plymouth 
Rocks,  and"  long  ago  found  the  200  egg  hen.  He  feeds  as 
follows : 

Twenty  pullets  and  two  cockerels  are  kept  in  each  lot. 

Each  pen  of  twenty-two  receives  one  pint  of  wheat,  in  the 
deep  litter  early  in  the  morning.  At  9:30  A.  M.  one-half  pint 
•of  oats  is  fed  to  them  in  the  same  way.  At  1  P.  M.  one-half 
pint  of  cracked  corn  is  given  in  the  litter  as  before.  At  3  P.  M. 
in  winter  and  4  P.  M.  in  the  summer  they  are  given  all  the 
mash  they  will  eat  up  clean  in  half  an  hour. 

The  mash  is  made  of  the  following  mixture  of  meals :  200 
pounds  wheat  bran,  100  pounds  corn  meal,  100  pounds  wheat 
middlings,  100  pounds  linseed  meal,  100  pounds  meat  meal  or 
fine  meat  scraps.  Part  of  the  year  the  linseed  meal  is  omitted, 
and  the  amount  of  meat  meal  doubled.  The  mash  contains  one- 
fourth  of  its  bulk  of  clover  leaves  and  heads,  secured  from  the 
feeding  floor  in  the  cattle  barn.  The  clover  is  thoroughly 
soaked  with  hot  water.  The  mash  is  made  quite  dry.  Cracked 
bone,  oyster  shells,  clean  grit  and  water  are  at  all  times  before 
them.  Two  large  mangels  are  fed  to  the  birds  in  each  pen 
daily  in  winter,  and  green  food  in  plenty  in  summer. 


32 


C.  Bricault,  M.  D.  V.,  of  Andover,  Mass.,  is  another  man 
who  has  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  200-egg  hen — some  of  his 
White  Wyandottes  having  considerably  exceeded  this  figure. 
Dr.  Bricault  relies  more  upon  inheritance  than  upon  any  spe- 
cial bill  of  fare  in  getting  the  200-egg  hen,  but  his  method  of 
feeding,  as  given  in  his  own  words,  is  excellent. 

"Morning — One  of  the  following  grains  is  scattered  in  the 
litter:  oats,  wheat,  corn,  barley,  about  one  handful  to  two 
hens.  We  then  water  the  hens,  giving  warmed  water  on  very 
cold  days,  that  is,  water  with  the  chill  taken  off. 

"Noon — Grain  as  in  the  morning,  but  less,  about  one  hand- 
full  to  three  hens.  Wre  feed  a  different  grain  at  every  meal.  At 
this  meal  we  give  the  green  food  of  the  day  (cabbage  one  day, 
beets  the  next,  scalded  clover  or  whatever  we  have  on  hand), 
but  they  get  green  food  every  day.  Sometimes  we  give  a  feed 
of  green  cut  bone  as  a  variety  in  place  of  grain,  but  we  do  not 
feed  cut  bone  regularly. 

"Night — Our  mash  is  fed  at  night,  and  we  give  the  hens  all 
they  will  eat.  We  make  the  mash  as  follows :  bran,  corn  meal, 
ground  oats,  equal  parts  by  bulk,  well  mixed  together.  These 
meals  are  put  in  the  trough  with  enough  boiling  water  to 
make  the  mass  Vet  dry/  and  covered  over  with  a  bag  and  left 
to  cook  in  their  own  heat;  when  cool  it  is  fed.  We  feed  the 
mash  every  second  day.  We  feed  it  in  long  troughs,  and  give 
all  they  will,  eat  up  clean  in  half  an  hour.  The  days  on  which 
the  mash  is  omitted  we  give  one  of  the  above-mentioned 
grains — one  handful  to  each  hen. 

"We  also  keep  a  small  piece  of  rock  salt  in  each  pen  for  the 
hens  to  pick  at.  This  can  be  placed  in  a  slatted  box,  with  the 
slats  about  two  inches  apart. 

"We  believe  in  regularity  in  feeding  and  practice  it. 

"A  self-feeding  trough  is  placed  in  every  pen,  divided  into 
three  compartments ;  in  one  there  is  grit,  in  another  oyster 
shells;  the  third  contains  a  mixture  of  meat  and  the  ground 
grains  used  in  the  mash,  half  meat  and  half  grain.  This  last 
makes  a  good  mixture  to  serve  as  lunch  between  meals. 

"After  the  hens  have  gone  to  roost  at  night  we  scatter  the 
morning  feed  in  the  litter  so  the  hens  can  go  to  scratching  as 
soon  as  they  come  off  the  roost  in  the  morning." 

FEEDING  FOR  EGGS:     A  WOMAN'S  WAY. 
"In  the  morning  I  feed  a  mash  made  of  about  two  parts 
bran  to  one  part  ground  oats.    For  every  50  hens  I  put  in  two 
quarts,  good  measure,  of  green  ground  bone ;  also  some  vegeta- 


33 


bles,  well  cooked  and  mashed.  This  latter  I  vary  as  much  as 
possible,  using  water  in  which  vegetables  have  been  cooked  to 
moisten  the  mash,  providing  it  is  not  so  strongly  flavored  as  to 
be  disagreeable  to  the  hens,  as  sometimes  happens  if  turnips 
have  been  cooked  in  it.  The  proportion  of  vegetable  matter 
given  to  hens  in  winter  is  much  smaller  than  that  given  in 
summer,  and  also  smaller  than  the  other  ingredients  in  the 
mash.  In  summer  cut  grass  or  clover  and  vegetable  tops  are 
substituted  for  the  roots  given  in  winter  and  are  fed  separately 
whenever  convenient.  Dried  beef  scraps  are  substituted  in 
summer  for  the  ground  bone  in  winter  and  are  fed  in  smaller 
quantities,  perhaps  half  the  amount.  I  season  with  salt  rather 
less  than  I  would  for  my  family.  I  never  use  pepper,  but  oc- 
casionally ginger.  When  using  pepper  and  seasoning  highly 
with  salt,  I  have  always  had  more  or  less  hens  die  of  liver 
trouble  in  spring.  My  mash  is  always  thoroughly  scalded  and 
frequently  well  cooked,  as  in  winter  I  often  mix  it  the  night 
before  and  let  it  remain  in  the  oven  over  night.  Animal  meal 
I  consider  a  cheap  food  which  will  make  hens  lay ;  but  I  can- 
not use  it,  even  in  much  smaller  quantities  than  the  rule,  on 
account  of  its  laxative  qualities. 

"My  hens  always  have  warm  water  in  clean  drinking  ves- 
sels in  winter  and  cool  water  in  summer. 

"The  second  and  last  feed  comes  after  dinner,  when  I  hoe 
or  rake  into  the  litter  on  the  hen  house  floor  two  parts  whole 
oats  to  one  part  wheat.  The  litter  is  six  or  eight  inches  deep, 
and  the  feed  is  given  generously  enough  to  make  them  feel 
rewarded  for  scratching  up  to  the  next  afternoon. 

"Oyster  shells  I  prefer  to  throw  in  fresh  every  day,  espec- 
ially in  the  latter  part  of  the  winter,  when  they  get  too  busy 
laying  to  eat  the  proper  amount  of  lime. 

"A  neighbor  adopted  my  way  of  feeding,  but  with  pullets 
bought  of  me  failed  to  get  like  results.  I  attribute  the  fail- 
ure to  the  fact  that  he  was  afraid  of  wasting  feed,  and  if  he 
could  possibly  find  a  grain  would  not  feed  more.  In  the  morn- 
ing I  feed  all  the  hens  will  eat  with  a  relish. — Miss  L.  M.  S._ 
Auburn,  Me. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Foods  and  Food  Values. 


Readers  of  the  poultry  and  agricultural  press  are  contin- 
ually coming  across  expressions,  the  meaning  of  which  they 
but  dimly  comprehend.  They  read  of  "narrow"  and  "wide" 
rations,  "proteids"  and  "carbohydrates,"  "concentrates"  and 
"coarse  foods."  All  this  in  most  cases  is  so  much  Greek.  I 
have  talked  with  many  intelligent  poultry  keepers,  but  have 
rarely  found  one  who  could  tell  why  he  fed  as  he  did  apart 
from  the  fact  that  his  ration  had  justified  itself  in  experience. 
And  yet  a  little  knowledge  of  the  elementary  principle  of  sci- 
entific feeding  may  be  of  great  value.  It  will  enable  a  man  to 
feed  more  economically,  as  he  can  often  substitute  for  a  high- 
priced  food  one  much  lower  in  price,  and  also  to  feed  so  that 
he  can  secure  the  results  he  is  after  without  loss  of  time  or 
waste  in  any  way.  It  is  my  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  make 
the  matter  of  foods  and  feeding  so  simple  that  anyone  can 
understand  it. 

PROTEIDS— THINGS  THAT  BUILD  UP. 

The  food  that  is  eaten  has  three  functions  to  perform.  The 
first  is  to  build  up.  In  the  animal  body  a  process  of  waste  and 
repair  is  continually  going  on.  Old  tissues  are  breaking  down 
and  being  replaced  by  new  ones.  It  is  evident  that  if  an  exact 
balance  is  to  be  preserved  considerable  food  must  be  eaten. 
But  besides  this  process  of  waste  and  repair  another  process 
may  be  going  on — that  of  growth  and  manufacture.  In  the 
chick,  for  instance,  the  frame  is  being  built  up  rapidly,  the 
feathers  are  coming  out,  and  the  flesh  and  muscles  receive 
their  daily  increment.  In  the  laying  hen  the  egg  is  being 
formed.  Now  there  are  certain  elements  in  the  food  that  is 
taken  that  go  to  repair  the  waste  and  build  up  the  body ;  they 
also  enter  largely  into  the  manufactured  product — the  milk 
of  the  cow  and  the  egg  of  the  hen.  These  elements  are  called 
proteids.  They  are  absolutely  necessary  to  the  life  and  health 
of  the  animal,  and  must  be  furnished  in  sufficient  quantities  or 
decay  and  death  will  ensue. 


35 


CARBOHYDRATES— THINGS  THAT  WARM  UP. 

Besides  building"  up  food  is  required  for  another  purpose — 
to  warm  up.  The  temperature  of  the  human  body  is  98  de- 
grees ;  that  of  the  hen's  body,  103  degrees.  To  maintain  the 
temperature  of  the  body  food  must  be  burned  in  the  stomach 
just  as  coal  is  burned  in  the  furnace.  You  have  noticed  on  a 
cold  day  in  winter  how  difficult  it  is  to  keep  up  the  tempera- 
ture of  a  room  up  to  70,  and  how  much  fuel  is  required  to  do 
it.  And  yet  the  temperature  of  the  body  must  be  kept  28  de- 
grees above  this,  or  the  result  will  be  a  chill,  from  which  we 
may  never  recover. 

There  are  certain  elements  in  the  food  that  go  directly  to 
the  production  of  heat,  and  these  are  called  carbohydrates. 
They  include  sugar,  starch  and  gums  (sometimes  called  "ni- 
trogen-free extract"),  and  the  cellulose  or  fibre  (the  coarse  or 
woody  part  of  a  plant)  which,  however,  is  indigestible.  The 
cereals  are  especially  rich  in  carbohydrates.  We  sometimes 
read  that  the  farmers  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  in  years  when 
the  corn  crop  is  excessive,  use  corn  for  fuel;  and -that  is  pre- 
cisely what  we  do  when  we  feed  corn  to  our  hens  in  the  win- 
ter. The  corn  is  the  fuel  which  the  hen  burns  to  maintain  the 
temperature  of  her  body  at  103.  Such  being  the  case,  the  im- 
portance of  a  warm,  snugly-built  house  to  keep  down  fuel  bills 
becomes  at  once  apparent. 

In  a  well  conducted  manufacturing  establishment  the  fuel 
that  is  burned  serves  a  double  purpose;  it  not  only  generates 
the  steam  that  warms  the  building,  but  it  also  generates  the 
steam  that  drives  the  machinery.  Perfectly  analogous  to  this 
is  the  service  rendered  by  the  food  elements  that  we  denomi- 
nate carbohydrates.  They  not  only  keep  the  body  at  a  proper 
temperature,  but  they  also  furnish  the  energy  by  which  the 
work  is  done. 

FATS— THINGS  THAT  ARE  STORED  UP. 

The  careful  and  prudent  head  of  a  household  is  not  content 
to  "live  from  hand  to  mouth,"  as  the  saying  is.  He  does  not 
buy  his  coal  from  day  to  day,  his  flour  a  few  pounds  at  a 
time,  and  his  vegetables  as  he  needs  them  to  use.  On  the  con- 
trary he  has  a  well-stocked  cellar,  in  which  are  enough  sup- 
plies to  last  for  some  time.  The  thrifty  wage-earner  does  not 
spend  quite  all  he  earns,  but  saves  a  certain  amount  each  week, 
which  he  deposits  in  a  savings  bank  or  invests  in  life  insur- 
ance. Nature,  our  thrifty  mother,  is  not  content  that  her  chil- 


36 


dren  shall  live  from  day  by  day ;  so  she  lays  by  a  reserve  from 
which  they  can  draw  in  time  of  need.   This  reserve  is  the  fat 
which  she  wraps  around  the  tissues  and  with  which  she  en 
cases  some  of  the  organs. 

There  is  one  very  curious  thing  that  is  true  of  the  different 
food  elements — they  can  take  the  place  of  each  other,  to  some 
extent.  This  is  not  true  of  the  proteids.  Nothing  can  take 
their  place.  But  it  is  true  of  the  carbohydrates  and  the  fats. 
At  the  New  York  State  Experiment  Station  a  cow  was  fed  for 
95  days  upon  food  from  which  the  fat  had  been  extracted  as 
thoroughly  as  possible.  In  spite  of  this  absence  of  food  fat  the 
cow  continued  to  secrete  milk  similar  to  that  produced  on  a 
normal  ration.  Nearly  sixty-three  pounds  of  fat  was  yielded 
in  the  milk  during  the  ninety-five  da^s,  and  the  cow  gained 
forty-seven  pounds  during  that  time,  being  judged  a  much  fat- 
ter cow  at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning.  This  experiment 
would  seem  to  be  conclusive  that  the  milk  fat  was  produced 
quite  largely,  if  not  entirely,  from  the  carbohydrates  of  the 
food.  On  the  other  hand,  so  well  is  it  settled  that  fat  may  be 
converted  into  carbohydrates,  that  it  is  the  common  practice 
to  multiply  the  fat  by  2.25  to  get  its  equivalent  in  carbohy- 
drates in  making  up  an  equation. 

Besides  these  three  principle  food  elements  which  I  have 
enumerated  there  are  subordinate  food  elements  as  follows: 
Ash,  representing  the  mineral  ingredients  after  a  food  is 
burned.  These  ashes  consist  of  lime,  potash,  soda,  magnesia, 
iron,  phosphoric  acid  and  sulphuric  acid.  Water,  present  in 
all  foods  to  some  extent.  Fibre  or  cellulose,  the  coarse  or 
woody  part  of  a  plant  (already  mentioned  under  the  head  of 
carbohydrates,  but  more  appropriately  coming  here). 

A   BALANCED   RATION,   WIDE   AND   NARROW   RA- 
TIONS. 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  frame  our  definitions.  A  bal- 
anced ration  is  a  ration  in  which  all  the  elements  required  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  animal  for  the  time  being  are  present  in 
right  proportion.  It  will  be  seen  by  this  definition  that  a  bal- 
anced ration  is  not  a  fixed  and  variable  thing.  A  ration  that  is 
correctly  balanced  for  chicks  is  not  balanced  for  laying  stock, 
and  a  ration  that  is  balanced  for  laying  stock  is  not  balanced 
for  birds  that  are  being  fattened  for  market.  It  has  been  found 
by  experience  that  the  ration  of  1.2  (one  part  protein  to  two 
parts  carbohydrates)  is  about  right  for  chicks;  the  ration  1.4 


37 


is  about  right  for  laying  stock,  and  the  ration  1.6  is  about  right 
for  fattening.  In  making  up  the  ration  the  ingredients  are 
weighed,  not  measured,  and  the  fat  is  multiplied  by  2.25  (or 
2j/4)  to  reduce  it  to  carbohydrates. 

A  wide  ration  is  one  in  which  the  protein  is  largely  ex- 
ceeded by  the  carbohydrates ;  a  narrow  ration  is  one  in  which 
the  protein  and  carbohydrates  are  more  nearly  equal.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  anything  exceeding  1.6  would  be  called  a  wide 
ration,  and  anything  under  it  a  narrow  one. 

SOME  THINGS  TO  BEAR  IN  MIND. 

The  reader  who  has  followed  me  carefully  will  see  how 
absolutely  impossible  it  is  to  feed  a  flock  of  hens  by  rule, 
common  sense  must  come  in.  A  ration  that  would  be  cor- 
rectly balanced  for  one  day  would  not  be  balanced  for  the 
next.  For  instance,  on  a  very  cold  day  in  winter  we  burn 
twice  as  much  coal  to  keep  warm  as  on  a  mild  day,  and  on 
the  same  day  the  flock  would  require  a  much  wider  ration 
(more  carbohydrates  or  warming  up  food)  than  on  a  mild 
•day  or  in  midsummer. 

Fortunately  the  hen  has  considerable  power  of  adjustment, 
and  so  survives  our  well-meaning  but  bungling  and  imper- 
fect efforts  to  feed  her  scientifically.  If  we  do  not  feed  enough, 
she  draws  upon  her  reserve ;  and  if  we  feed  too  much  she  has 
the  power  of  passing  the  excess  through  the  body  unassimilat- 
•ed.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  advocate  feeding  generously. 
Nature  can  take  care  of  a  surplus  if  it  is  not  too  great,  but  the 
only  way  in  which  she  can  meet  a  deficit  is  by  drawing  on  her 
reserve. 

The  reader,  too,  will  now  see  why  it  is  that  one  poultry- 
man  feeds  one  way,  and  another  another,  and  both  have  good 
results.  The  principal  thing  is  to  get  your  rations  with  suc- 
culent, nutritious  food ;  and  if  you  do  this  your  hens  are  sure 
to  respond  with  a  goodly  output  of  eggs. 

GREEN  FOODS. 

What  is  the  value  of  green  food  in  the  daily  ration?  Its 
great  value  is  that  it  makes  it  more  digestible ;  it  lightens 
up  the  ration  and  makes  it  possible  for  the  gastric  juices  to 
permeate  every  particle.  Then,  too,  green  food  often  contains 
certain  mineral  salts  that  the  birds  need,  in  a  soluble  and  di- 
gestible form.  Green  food  should  form  a  portion  of  the  daily 
bill  of  fare,  either  in  the  mash  or  separately.  "In  the  winter 
and  early  spring  months,  mangel-wurzels,  if  properly  kept, 


38 


may  be  fed  to  good  advantage.  In  feeding  these  beets  to  a 
flock  of  hens  a  very  good  practice  is  simply  to  plit  the  root 
lengthwise  with  a  large  knife.  The  fowls  will  then  be  able  to 
pick  out  all  the  fresh,  crisp  food  from  the  exposed  cut  surface. 
Cabbages  can  be  grown  cheaply  in  many  localities  and  make 
excellent  green  food  so  long  as  they  can  be  kept  fresh  and 
crisp.  Kale  and  beet  leaves  are  equally  as  good  and  are  read- 
ily eaten.  Sweet  apples  are  also  suitable,  and,  in  fact,  almost 
any  crisp,  fresh,  green  food  can  be  fed  with  profit.  The  green 
food,  in  many  instances,  may  be  cut  fine  and  fed  with  the  soft 
food,  but,  as  a  rule,  it  is  better  to  feed  separately  during  the 
middle  of  the  day,  in  such  quantities  that  the  fowls  have  about 
all  they  can  eat  at  one  time." 

CLOVER  AS  A  FOOD. 

Clover  is  the  green  food,  par  excellence.  Second-crop 
clover  is  best.  It  should  be  cut  just  as  it  is  coming  into  bloom, 
or  a  little  before,  when  there  is  a  profusion  of  tender  green 
leaves  and  the  stalks  have  not  become  woody  and  dry.  Great 
care  should  be  taken  in  curing  the  crop.  Clover  for  hens 
should  be  cut  into  short  lengths,  say  one-fourth  of  an  inch, 
and  may  be  fed  alone  at  noon.  Or  it  may  be  mixed  in  the 
morning  mash  with  boiling  water.  It  is  not  necessary  to  steep 
it  over  night  as  some  do.  Clover  is  excellent,  but  somewhat, 
expensive. 


39 


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40 


TABLE  SHOWING  COMPOSITION  AND  VALUATION  OF 
PRINCIPAL  FOODS. 


POOD    STUFFS. 

Composition. 

Valu- 
ation. 

1 
& 

J3 

UO 
<J 

1 

Pu 

I 

s 

,  r  »- 

t£K 

O  <U 

S  & 
•£*  QJ 

1 

ii 

£« 

h 

"5 
X 

PKOTEIN    FOODS. 

Cottonseed  meal  
Cleveland  flax  meal  

7.0 
90 
9.0 
8.5 
95 
9.0 
8.0 
11.0 
8.0 
10.0 
10.0 
10.  0 

6.5 
5.3 
5.5 
5.2 
1.0 
0.9 
1.8 
5.8 
3.8 
3  2 
4.3 
5  3 

45.4 
38.3 
36.9 
34  6 
37.2 
34.3 
34.7 
27.1 
23  1 
19.4 
18.1 
17.1 
16.2 
18.3 

58.0 
57.4 
65.1 
23.3 

9.5 
8.9 
11.2 
11.4 
11.3 
9.1 
8.7 
12.5 
13.2 
11.5 
7.8 

10.4 
11.9 
11.8 
12.4 
10.0 
10.6 
13.0 

3.5 
3  1 

6.1 
8.8 
8.9 
8.6 
2.2 
2.2 
13.6 
11.9 
10  8 
3.2 
7.0 
8.4 
10.1 
12.7 

24.5 
36.2 
37.2 
36.8 
47.9 
51.6 
81.4 
42.6 
49.4 
59.4 
55.6 
54.6 
53.1 
53.4 

10.5 
2  4 
2.5 

6.3 
2.2 
2.0 
10.5 
1.6 
4.9 
4.8 
5  0 
4.6 
4.4 
4.0 

39  9 

:l.n 
:1.1 
:1.1 
:1.5 
:1.4 
:1.6 
:l.6 
1:1  7 
1:2.1 
1:3.1 
1:3.7 
1:3  8 
1:3  9 
1:3.4 

1  1.3 
1:1.6 
1:0.6 
1:1.6 

1:8.1 

1:8.5 
1:7.4 
1:6  1 
1:6.2 
1:7.0 
1:8.2 
1:5.6 
1:4.6 
1:6.1 
1:8 

1:7.9 
1:6.3 
1:6.0 
1:6.0 
1:7 
1:7.2 
1:6 

1:3.8 
1:2 
1:2 
1:1.6 

Linseed  meal  (new  process). 
Linseed  meal  (old  process).  . 
Chicago  gluten  meal  
Cream  gluten  meal  

Biles  XXXX  grains  

Malt  Sprouts                      

Dried  brewers  grains  
"Wheat,  middling  (flour)  
Wh^at  middling(standard). 
Mixed  feed  

Wheat  bran  
H-O  dairy  feed  

10  0 

8.0 

1.3 
0.8 
6.7 
6.9 

14.0 
11.0 
9.0 
12.0 
13.0 
10.0 
10.0 
9.0 
8.0 
8.0 
7.0 

10.9 
10.5 
11.0 
10.9 
12.6 
11.6 
12.4 

87  2 

6.2 
3.6 

8.0 
2.2 
6.6 
24.5 

1.4 
1  4 
2.6 
3.3 
2.3 
3.0 
3  5 
3.2 
4.6 
4.1 
5.3 

1.5 
1.8 
3.0 
2.4 
2.0 
1.9 
0.4 

ANIMAL    FOODS. 

Beef  scrap  

Pork  scrap  

39.6 
16.3 
16.5 

'     3.3 
3.6 
8.5 
3.8 
1  9 
3.2 
3  7 
3.4 
3.1 
4  6 
2.8 

5.0 
2.1 
5.0 
1.8 
2.2 
1.7 
23.6 

3.7 
0.8 
0.3 
1.0 

Dried  blood 

5.3 

Green  bones  

STARCHY  FOODS. 

Corn  meal  
Corn  and  Cob  meal  .     
Hominy  meal  

1.9 
6.7 
4.2 
8.7 
5.7 
10.0 
11.1 
9.8 
16.8 
11.4 
21.8 

1.9 

1.8 
8.5 
27 
8.7 
1.7 
0.2 

69.9 
68.4 
61.2 
60.8 
6^.8 
«4.7 
63.1 
62.1 
54.3 
60  4 
55.3 

70.3 
71.9 
59.7 
69.8 
64.5 
72.5 
23.9 

4.8 
4.7 
5.2 
4.0 

Orouud  oats.    .  . 

Ground  barley  
<  'orn  and  oat  feed  
Victor  corn  and  oat  feed  
H-O  horse  feed. 

Quaker  dairy  feed  
Sliumachei's  stock  feed.  .  . 
Oat  feed  (average)  

CEREALS. 
Oorn. 

Wheat  

•Oats 

Barley  
IBuck  wheat 

Itye   

Hice 

MILK. 
"Whole  milk. 

Hkim  milk,  raised  
Skim  milk,  separated  
Buttermilk  ,  

90.4 
90.6 
90.1 

2.9 
3.9 

CHAPTER  VI. 


Eggs  in  Fall  and  Winter. 


Unless  a  man  breeds  fancy  fowls  and  has  a  good  market 
in  the  spring  for  eggs  for  hatching,  the  gilt-edged  profits  come 
from  eggs  produced  in  late  fall  and  early  winter.  There  is  no 
commodity  that  I  know  anything  about  where  the  price  fluc- 
tuates so  much  in  the  course  of  a  year  as  it  does  on  eggs.  In 
the  local  market  eggs  range  in  price  from  12  to  15  cents  in 
April  and  May  to  30  to  40  cents  around  Thanksgiving.  In 
spite  of  all  that  has  been  written  and  said  about  eggs  in  the 
late  fall  and  early  winter,  there  is  always  a  shortage  about  this 
time,  and  there  is  likely  to  be  for  years  to  come. 

The  reason  why  it  is  so  difficult  to  get  eggs  in  late  fall  or 
early  winter  is  that  it  is  against  Nature.  The  primary  object 
of  a  bird  in  laying  eggs  is  not  to  please  the  palate  of  the  epi- 
cure or  add  to  the  profits  of  the  owner,  but  to  reproduce  her 
kind.  Now  it  is  a  universal  law  that  all  creatures  in  a  wild 
state  bring  forth  their  young  at  that  season  of  the  year  when 
food  is  most  abundant.  The  hen  has  been  domesticated  for 
more  than  thirty  centuries,  but  back  of  this  is  a  period  of  much 
greater  extent  when  she  was  wild. 

No  artificial  breeding  or  habitat  can  ever  completely  eradi- 
cate aboriginal  instincts.  The  natural  time  for  a  hen  to  lay 
is  in  the  spring  and  summer.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  in 
working  for  eggs  in  fall  and  early  winter  we  are  working 
against  Nature,  and  can  never  hope  for  that  complete  success 
that  we  may  expect  when  we  are  working  with  Nature  and 
Nature  is  working  with  us. 

WINTER  EGGS  COME  FROM  PULLETS. 
Eggs  in  the  fall  and  winter  come  principally  from  pullets. 
At  Thanksgiving  time,  when  eggs  are  at  their  maximum,  the 
hens  have  not  fully  recovered  from  their  moult.  They  may 
lay  a  few  eggs,  but  nothing  great.  Those  who  get  winter 
eggs  in  large  quantities  are  those  who  follow  the  advice  of 
this  book  and  plan  to  have  at  least  two-thirds  of  their  laying 
stock  pullets.  But  not  every  pullet  is  a  layer.  It  is  only  those 
that  are  well  grown  and  have  been  handled  right  that  are  now 
giving  a  good  account  of  themselves.  The  first  great  rule 


42 

for  winter  eggs  is  as  follows :  Get  out  your  chicks  early  and 
keep  them  coming  from  the  day  they  break  the  shell  down 
to  the  day  they  go  into  the  laying  pens  in  the  fall. 

AMERICAN   BREEDS   BEST. 

The  breed  has  something  to  do  with  it.  As  a  rule  the 
American  breeds  are  the  best  winter  layers.  I  know  that  this 
statement  will  be  challenged,  and  that  instances  will  be  given 
where  the  Mediterraneans  or  Asiatics  have  equaled  or  sur- 
passed the  Americans  in  egg  production;  but  the  statement 
will  stand.  The  Mediterraneans  are  thin-feathered  and  are 
very  susceptible  to  climatic  conditions.  A  sudden  cold  snap 
will  often  cause  the  egg  product  to  drop  to  zero.  The  Asi- 
atics, on  the  other  hand,  are  thick-feathered,  but  slow  in 
maturing — they  do  not  get  ready  to  lay  until  well  on  toward 
spring.  The  man  who  wants  winter  eggs  will  make  no  mis- 
take if  he  fills  his  pens  with  well  matured  pullets  of  the 
American  class. 

A   WARM   HOUSE   ESSENTIAL. 

In  olden  times  hens  were  not  expected  to  lay  in  winter. 
No  wonder  they  did  not!  They  were  not  hatched  out  until 
June,  and  were  expected  to  pick  up  their  living  in  the  fields. 
After  it  became  too  cold  for  them  to  roost  in  trees  they  were 
allowed  to  stay  in  the  barn  nights,  roosting  on  the  big  beams, 
or  were  thrust  down  into  the  noisome  barn  cellar.  A  few 
handfuls  of  corn  were  thrown  down  to  them  from  time  to 
time,  and  if  they  wanted  to  quench  their  thirst  they  could 
eat  snow  or  break  the  ice  in  the  horse  trough.  It  is  a  marvel 
they  ever  lived  through  the  winter,  to  say  nothing  of  laying 
eggs.  Even  to-day,  when  poultry  keeping  is  so  much  better 
understood,  the  importance  of  a  warm  house  is  not  half  enough 
appreciated. 

The  West  Virginia  Experiment  Station  a  few  years  ago 
scientifically  demonstrated  the  importance  of  a  warm  house 
in  the  production  of  winter  eggs.  "Two  houses  situated  side 
by  side  and  similar  in  all  respects  were  selected  for  the  ex- 
periment. The  houses  had  been  constructed  with  matched 
siding  and  shingle  roofs.  Before  the  experiment  began,  one 
house  was  sheathed  on  the  inside  with  boards  and  then 
thoroughly  papered  so  as  to  cover  all  the  cracks.  The  experi- 
ment began  November  24th,  and  continued  for  five  periods 
of  30  days  each.  The  two  flocks  were  fed  the  same  kind 
and  amount  of  food.  The  total  number  of  eggs  produced  per 


43 


100  hens  in  the  warm  house  was  5,239,  while  in  the  cold 
house  100  hens  laid  but  4,136  eggs  in  the  same  time,  a  bal- 
ance in  favor  of  the  warm  house  flock  of  1,103  eggs  worth  in 
the  local  market  24  cents  per  dozen,  or  $22.06.  It  is  thus 
seen  that  the  additional  expense  for  increasing  the  warmth 
of  the  house  was  a  very  profitable  investment." 

FEEDING  FOR  WINTER  EGGS. 

Readers  of  the  preceding  chapter  of  this  book  will  need 
no  special  instruction  in  the  production  of  winter  eggs,  but 
it  will  do  no  harm  to  repeat  the  substance  of  what  I  have 
said.  To  get  eggs  in  winter,  or,  indeed,  at  any  season  of  the 
year,  it  is  necessary  to  feed  generously.  One  cannot  get 
something  for  nothing,  and  if  one  is  to  get  plenty  of  eggs 
from  'his  hens  he  must  supply  them  with  the  raw  materials 
for  egg  making.  "Overcrowding  and  underfeeding  are  two 
serious  hindrances  to  a  good  egg  yield;  but  underfeeding  is 
by  far  the  more  serious  hindrance  to  a  profitable  winter's 
work  with  the  layers."  So  the  second  great  rule  for  winter 
eggs  is:  Give  plenty  of  good  wholesome  food  ,and  give 
variety,  if  you  want  winter  layers. 

EGG  FOODS  AND  TONICS. 

The  question  conies  up  in  this  connection  as  to  the  ex- 
pediency of  using  egg  foods  and  tonics  where  winter  eggs 
are  wanted.  On  the  one  hand  there  are  some  who  recommend 
their  use;  on  the  other  there  are  those  who  unqualifiedly 
condemn.  Theoretically,  I  suppose,  it  is  better  not  to  use 
them ;  but,  actually,  they  may  be  used  occasionally  to  good 
advantage.  I  suppose  it  would  be  better  for  a  man  never  to 
overwork,  but  to  consume  each  day  only  so  much  energy  as 
he  made.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  come  occasions  into 
the  life  of  every  busy  man  when  he  is  compelled  to  work 
sixteen  or  eighteen  hours  at  a  stretch,  day  after  day,  and 
draw  upon  his  reserve.  Nature  allows  him  to  do  this,  but 
only  on  condition  that  he  make  up  the  deficit  as  soon  as  he 
can.  Nature  is  like  a  bank  that  allows  a  good  customer  oc- 
casionally to  overdraw.  It  will  do  no  harm  to  stimulate  a 
healthy,  well-grown  bird  a  little  when  eggs  are  high ;  but  to 
use  stimulants  and  conditions  powders  habitually  is  to  defeat 
the  very  purpose  for  which  they  are  made — they  either  kill 
the  hen  or  she  becomes  immune  and  no  longer  responds. 


44 


$100.00  IN  GOLD:  HOW  MR.  S.  D.  FOX  WON  IT. 

Some  years  ago  the  manufacturers  of  a  well-known  con- 
dition powder  advertised  a  "Gold  Coin  Premium  Contest" 
for  the  best  egg  record  during  the  winter  months,  in  which 
$200.00  in  gold  was  to  be  given  to  sixteen  contestants.  There 
was  one  first  prize  of  $100.00,  five  prizes  of  $10.00  each,  and 
ten  prizes  of  $5.00  each.  The  contest  was  open  to  the  world. 
The  conditions  were  that  each  contestant  must  keep  not  less 
than  twelve  hens,  must  buy  at  least  one  dollar's  worth  of 
condition  powder,  and  must  make  a  full  four  months'  trial. 
The  time  for  the  close  of  the  contest  was  set  at  April  1st.  The 
first  prize  was  won  by  Mr.  S.  D.  Fox  of  Wolfeboro,  N.  H. 
Unfortunately  Mr.  Fox  kept  no  records  other  than  those  he 
sent  in,  and  in  a  general  clearing  up  of  the  central  office  a 
short  time  since  all  records  relating  to  the  contest  were  de- 
stroyed. Consequently  I  am  unable  to  give  the  figures,  but 
it  mayr  be  enough  to  state  that  out  of  the  hundreds  of  con- 
testants Mr.  Fox  won  the  first  prize.  I  will  give  his  methods, 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words : 

"That  fall,"  said  Mr.  Fox,  "I  had  a  master  fine  lot  of  hens 
— White  Wyandottes,  with  just  a  dash  of  Leghorn  blood  in 
'em  to  make  'em  lay.  They  were  hatched  early,  and  I  began 
to  get  eggs  from  them  in  October.  When  I  saw  the  contest 
advertised  I  thought  I  would  enter.  I  didn't  expect  to  get  the 
first  prize,  but  thought  possibly  I  might  get  one  of  the  others. 
So  I  bought  a  dollar's  worth  of  condition  powder  of  C.  W. 
Hicks,  who  then  kept  the  Wolfeboro  Drug  Store,  and  started 
in.  I  remembered  reading  in  an  old  book  the  following  sen- 
tence :  'There  is  nothing  that  will  make  hens  lay  equal  to 
cayenne  pepper  and  milk.'  I  had  a  cow  that  came  in  in  the 
fall,  which  was  giving  about  sixteen  quarts  of  milk  a  day.  I 
made  up  a  pen  of  the  likeliest  looking  pullets,  and  started  in. 
I  fed  them  in  the  morning  a  mash  made  of  equal  parts  of  corn 
meal,  ground  oats  and  bran.  I  didn't  know  anything  about 
meat  meal  or  ground  bone  in  those  days,  and  so  I  put  in  in- 
stead a  handful  of  linseed  meal  and  what  scraps  we  had  left 
from  the  table.  I  mixed  this  mash  up  with  warm  skim  milk. 
Two  or  three  times  a  week  I  shook  into  the  milk  a  teaspoon- 
ful  of  cayenne  pepper.  I  gave  the  hens  all  the  mash  they 
would  eat  up  clean.  At  noon  I  fed  oats  and  at  night  corn. 
I  gave  the  hens  all  the  milk  they  would  take.  I  gave  it  to 
'em  sweet ;  I  gave  it  to  'em  sour ;  I  gave  it  to  'em  in  the  form 
of  curd.  There  were  days  when  they  had  no  water — nothing 


45 


but  milk.  Lay?  You  never  saw  anything  like  it!  I  wish 
I  could  remember  how  many  they  laid.  Anyway  they  laid 
enough  to  bring  me  the  first  prize  of  $100.00.  Give  me 
cayenne  pepper  and  skim  milk,  and  I'll  risk  but  what  I  can 
make  hens  lay  every  time/' 

R.  FOX'S  HEN  PERSUADER. 

"I  can  give  you  a  receipt  for  an  egg  food  and  tonic  that 
will  do  the  business,"  said  Mr.  Fox.  "I  sent  off  once  for  an 
egg  food  that  was  highly  advertised,  and  the  first  thing  I 
knew  it  had  killed  five  hens.  No,  I  guess  I  won't  give  you 
the  name.  Maybe  I  was  a  little  anxious  to  have  'em  lay,  and 
fed  too  much  of  it.  But  this  one  I  can  vouch  for.  It  is  the 
greatest  hen  persuader  I  know  anything  about.  I  fed  it  one 
winter  to  seventy-two  hens,  and  one  day  got  sixty-eight  eggs. 
Five  days  in  succession  from  the  same  flock  I  got  sixty-four 
eggs.  Take  ten  pounds  of  bone  meal,  ten  pounds  beef  scraps, 
five  pounds  fenu-greek,  two  pounds  sulphur,  two  pounds 
charcoal,  one-half  pound  cayenne  pepper,  one-half  pound  salt. 
Mix  and  keep.  Put  a  half  pint  in  the  mash  every  morning 
for  twenty  hens.  When  you  feed  this  egg  food,  feed  no  meat 
meal  or  meat  scraps,  and  do  not  salt  the  mash.  You  will  get 
the  mixture  right  if  you  remember  that  the  combined  weight 
of  the  ingredients  is  thirty  pounds.  It  costs  about  a  dollar 
and  a  half  to  make  it." 

TO  START  PULLETS  TO  LAYING  IN  THE  FALL. 

When  pullets  are  old  enough  to  lay  and  do  not  lay  they 
need  some  slight  shock  or  change  to  start  them  in.  The  ma- 
jority of  those  who  rear  chickens  give  them  free  range,  or  as 
near  free  range  as  possible,  during  the  summer  months.  This 
is  correct.  But  after  they  get  their  growth  their  energies  need 
to  be  directed  to  egg  production  and  not  run  off  in  useless 
exercise.  Accordingly  as  early  as  October  1st — if  not  before 
—the  pullets  should  be  taken  from  the  range  and  put  into  the 
laying  houses.  Here  their  range  should  be  restricted.  More 
meat  meal  or  ground  bone  may  be  advantageously  introduced 
into  their  ration,  and  a  stimulant  may  be  given  in  the  shape 
of  cayenne  pepper  or  condition  powder.  This  treatment  soon 
induces  egg  production,  if  they  are  of  the  "bred-to-lay"  kind. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Sex  Element  in  Egg  Production. 

Why  do  hens  lay  at  all?  This  is  the  most  momentous 
question  that  confronts  the  poultryman.  If  he  can  answer 
the  question  correctly  he  is  in  a  position  to  proceed  intelli- 
gently and  systematically  with  egg  production.  If  he  cannot 
answer  it,  or  has  never  even  thought  of  it,  he  is  in  no  condi- 
tion to  get  a  large  and  uniform  egg  yield.  He  may  make  a 
hit  occasionally,  but  there  will  be  years  when  eggs  will  be 
few  and  far  between. 

It  is  evident  to  the  most  casual  observer  that  hens  do 
not  lay  for  their  own  amusement — for  the  fun  it  gives  them. 
Anyone  who  has  ever  watched  a  hen  straining  to  discharge 
the  egg,  or  who  has  taken  an  egg  out  of  a  nest  blood-stained 
from  some  internal  hemorrhage,  must  realize  that  the  pas- 
sage of  an  egg  by  a  hen  is  not  for  her  altogether  an  agreeable 
operation.  Doubtless  there  is  a  sense  of  relief  when  the  egg 
is  expelled — but  so  there  is  when  a  man  has  had  an  ulcerated 
tooth  extracted.  Nor  do  hens  lay  to  add  to  the  profits  of  their 
owner.  It  is  a  common  complaint,  and  one  in  which  there  is 
a  good  deal  of  truth,  that  hens  lay  only  when  eggs  are  cheap 
and  shut  down  when  they  are  dear!  No,  hens  do  not  lay  for 
fun  or  to  add  to  the  bank  account  of  their  owner;  they  lay 
for  an  altogether  different  purpose. 

Implanted  in  the  core  and  center  of  every  living  thing 
is  the  desire  to  reproduce  its  kind.  It  seems  to  be  the  design 
of  Nature  that  the  species  shall  be  perpetuated  at  any  cost. 
"Multiply  and  replenish  the  earth"  is  a  command  addressed 
to  plants,  animals  and  birds  as  well  as  to  man.  So  imperious 
is  this  instinct  of  reproduction,  so  irresistible,  that  some  of 
the  lower  orders  propagate  at  the  cost  of  their  own  lives. 

The  hen  lays  to  gratify  the  imperious  instinct  of  reproduc- 
tion. In  her  wild  state  the  hen  lays  from  six  to  ten  eggs  a 
year.  She  lays  them  in  some  secluded  nook  in  the  jungle, 
that  she  may  rear  her  little  brood.  If  it  were  not  for  this 
instinct  of  reproduction  the  hen  would  never  lay.  We  have 
taken  this  instinct  of  reproduction,  stimulated  it  so  that  the 
domestic  fowl  now  lays  from  ten  to  twentyfold  as  many  eggs 
as  her  aboriginal  ancestress;  but  have  largely  forgotten,  if 


47 


we  ever  knew,  that   it   is  the  presence  of  this  instinct  that 
makes  egg  production  possible. 

CONDITIONS  OF  REPRODUCTION. 

What  are  the  conditions  of  reproduction?     They  are  five, 
.and  they  are  as  follows : 

1.  Maturity.     The  animal,  bird  or  plant  must  be  in  the  in- 
termediate state  between  growth  and  decay.     The  desire  for 
reproduction  is  greater  at  the  beginning  of  this  intermediate 
state,  and  steadily  declines  toward   its  end.     This  is  why  a 
fowl  will  lay  more  eggs  the  first  year  after  coming  to  maturity 
than  in  any  subsequent  year  of  her  life. 

2.  Vitality.     Reproduction  draws  upon  the  vital  forces  as 
does  no  other  act.     This  is  why  the  bird  feels  a  desire  to  in- 
cubate  after   her   litter   is   completed — she   needs    rest.     The 
broody  hen  should  be  treated  with  great  consideration,  and 
not  ruthlessly  abused,  as  is  too  often  the  case.     The  imme- 
•diate  effect  of  disease  or  injury  is  to  weaken  the  desire  for 
reproduction.     A  sick  hen  is  not  a  laying  hen. 

3.  Nutrition.     The  animal,  bird  or  plant  must  be  well  fed. 
Darwin  makes  nutrition  the  principal  factor  in  reproduction. 
He  says :     "With  hardly  an  exception  our  domesticated  ani- 
mals,   which   have   long   been   habituated    to    a   regular   and 
•copious  supply  of  food,  without  the  labor  of  searching  for  it, 
are  more  fertile  than  the  corresponding  wild  animals.     The 
amount  of  food  affects  the  fertility  of  even  the   same  indi- 
vidual ;  thus  sheep,  which  on  mountains  never  produce  more 
than  one   lamb  to  a  birth,  when  brought  down  to   lowland 
pastures,  frequently  bear  twins.     As  Mr.  Dixon  has  remarked, 
"*High  feeding,  care  and  moderate  warmth  induce  a  habit  of 
profligacy    which    becomes    in    some    measure    hereditary/ " 
(Animals  and  Plants  Under  Domestication,  vol.  ii,  chap,  xvi.) 

4.  Sanitation.     Sanitation  profoundly  affects  vitality,  and 
without  sanitation  the  other  conditions  cannot  produce  their 
full  effect.     The  hen  house  should  be  kept  perfectly  clean,  the 
Thirds  free  from  parasites ;  they  should  not  be  crowded,  and 
should  be  supplied  with  everything  necessary  to  comfort  and 
health. 

5.  Sex.     In  the  very  lowest  forms  of  life  reproduction  is 
a  sexual — that  is,  the  new  life  is  produced  not  by  the  coming 
together  of  male  and  female,  but  by  fission  or  cleavage  from 
the  parent  organism.     But  all  higher  animals  and  plants  are 
represented  by  distinct  male  and  female  forms,  and  the  more 


48 


completely  each  form  is  sexed  the  greater  its  power  of  re- 
producing its  kind. 

THE  SEX  ELEMENT  IN  REPRODUCTION. 

The  importance  of  the  sex  element  in  reproduction  has- 
never  been  fully  understood.  Splendid  work  is  being  done  at 
experiment  stations  and  by  independent  investigators  in  the 
study  of  the  domestic  fowl.  The  trap  nest  has  enabled  us  to 
select  the  hens  that  lay  the  most  eggs,  and  to  breed  from  them.. 
Nutrition  has  been  studied,  until  we  can  feed  with  almost 
mathematical  certainty  but  the  study  of  sex  has  been  neglect- 
ed. It  may  be  that  the  study  of  sex  requires  a  knowledge 
of  physiology  and  biology  that  is  lacking  in  the  case  of  most 
poultrymen ;  but  it  is  here  that  the  richest  field  lies,  and  when 
a  man  has  mastered  the  subject  of  sex  he  is  in  a  condition  to 
.obtain  a  large  and  uniform  egg  yield  with  the  minimum 
amount  of  cost  and  labor. 

BREED  FROM  THE  BEST  SEXED  BIRDS. 

The  greatest  secret  of  large  and  uniform  egg  production  I 
believe  to  be  this :  Breed  from  the  best  sexed  birds !  Poultry- 
writers  are  reviving  the  old  question  as  to  whether  or  not 
there  is  an  egg  type.  I  am  inclined  to  think  'there  is.  But 
the  egg  type  that  I  care  most  about  is  one  based  on  sex.  The 
male  that  is  the  most  distinctly  male  and  the  female  that  is  the 
most  distinctly  female  are  the  birds  for  me. 

By  keeping  this  principle  in  mind  I  have  succeeded  in 
building  up  a  strain  of  birds  that  are  splendid  layers.  I  do 
not  use  the  trap  nest,  and  so  am  not  able  to  give  individual 
records.  I  did  have  a  bird  once  that  laid  an  egg  that  allowed 
me  to  keep  tab  on  her  as  accurately  as  if  I  had  used  the  trap 
nest.  From  some  peculiarity  of  the  ovaries  the  egg  had  a 
ring  around  it  about  one-third  of  the  distance  from  the  smaller 
to  the  larger  end ;  it  was  ivory  white  in  color  and  of  medium 
size.  It  was  such  an  egg  as  I  could  not  very  well  mistake. 
In  fourteen  months  and  ten  days  more  than  300  of  these  eggs 
appeared.  The  hen  then  became  broody,  and  I  foolishly 
allowed  her  tojsit^  After  she  had  completed  the  process  of 
incubation  and  weaned  her  chicks,  so  much  time  had  been 
lost  that  I  did  not  attempt  to  keep  tab  upon  her  again.  I 
have  given  up  pushing  my  hens  for  big  egg  production,  but 
take  what  comes  along.  When  conditions  are  right  I  get 
from  150  to  200  eggs  a  year  apiece  from  my  best  layers  and 
with  that  I  am  satisfied. 


49 


HOW  I  APPLY  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  SEX  SELECTION.. 

And  now  I  will  tell  the  readers  of  this  chapter  how  I  apply 
the  principle  of  sex  selection.  I  keep  a  close  watch  over  my 
chicks  from  the  day  they  break  the  shell,  and  as  soon  as  one 
shows  its  sex  that  chick  is  marked  so  that  I  can  tell  it  after- 
ward. When  the  chicks  are  three  months  old  the  first  sep- 
aration is  made ;  males  and  females  are  separated,  and  the 
chicks  that  showed  their  sex  first  are  taken  from  the  rest. 
This  gives  me  four  flocks.  From  the  chicks  in  which  the  sex 
element  first  manifested  itself  I  expect  to  get  my  best  lay- 
ers. When  it  is  time  to  put  the  birds  in  the  winter  quarters 
another  separation  is  made — the  birds  that  show  they  are 
nearest  ready  to  lay  are  put  in  pens  by  themselves.  (I  do 
not  care  for  precocious  pullets,  but  when  pullets  have  had 
time  to  mature  the  ones  that  are  nearest  ready  to  lay  are  in 
my  judgment  the  best  pullets.)  The  final  selection  for  the 
breeding  pens  is  made  when  birds  are  about  18  months  old — 
the  ones  which  moult  the  earliest  and  most  rapidly  being 
selected  for  breeders.  Thus  by  a  consistent  application  of 
the  principle  of  sex  selection  I  get  my  strain. 

With  the  males  the  same  principle  is  applied.  The  birds 
that  show  their  sex  the  earliest  and  the  most  strongly  are 
reserved,  and  the  others  are  killed  and  sent  to  the  market. 
Any  judge  will  tell  you  that  "good  wattles  are  a  sign  of  a 
good  bird."  But  besides  having  good  wattles  a  breeding 
cockerel  should  have  other  qualities ;  he  should  be  vigorous, 
alert,  courageous,  well  grown,  with  decided  protuberances 
on  his  shanks  where  later  the  spurs  are  to  be.  In  other  words 
he  should  be  strongly  sexed. 

I  believe  that  anyone  who  will  consistently  and  intelli- 
gently follow  out  the  suggestions  given  in  this  chapter  will 
see  his  egg  yield  steadily  improve,  and  that  in  three  breeding 
seasons,  with  comparatively  little  trouble,  he  will  get  the 
200-egg  hen. 
THE  LAW  OF  SEX:  MALES  OR  FEMALES  AT  WILL. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  problems  that  confronts  the 
biologist  is  that  of  sex.  What  are  the  conditions  that  pro- 
duce a  male  organism  and  what  the  conditions  that  produce  a 
female?  It  is  obvious  that  in  a  world  where  everything  is  by 
law  sex  is  not  by  chance,  but  what  the  law  is  we  do  not  fully 
know.  Still  many  facts  have  been  gathered,  and  we  are 
nearing  the  goal.  The  poultry  business  offers  a  peculiarly 
favorable  field  for  investigation.  When  you  reflect  that  per- 


50 


feet  organisms  may  be  produced  in  any.  number  in  the  short 
space  of  twenty^-one  days,  the  parent  fowls  may  be  kept  under 
such  conditions  as  th;  investigator  may  wish  and  that  these 
conditions  may  be  varied  at  will,  that  the  embryo  may  be 
followed  through  all  the  stages  of  its  development,  you  realize 
at  once  what  a  field  the  poultry  business  presents  for  a  study 
of  the  problem  of  sex,  and  the  business  takes  on  a  new  dignity 
and  interest. 

Some  very  important  facts  bearing  on  sex  have  been  gath- 
ered. The  point  on  which  investigators  are  more  fully  agreed 
is  that  nutrition  has  a  profound  influence  upon  sex.  Begin- 
ning with  insects  it  has  been  found  that  if  caterpillars  are 
starved  before  entering  the  chrysalis  state  the  resultant  but- 
terflies or  moths  are  males,  while  others  of  the  same  brood 
highly  nourished  are  females.  With  bees,  too,  the  relation 
between  nutrition  and  sex  seems  equally  well  established. 
Experiments  with  tadpoles,  which  were  supplied  with  a  diet 
steadily  increasing  in  sumptuousness,  showed  a  steady  and 
corresponding  increase  in  the  number  of  females  produced. 
The  proportion  of  females  to  males,  which  was  originally 
fifty-seven  to  forty-three,  rose  steadily  as  the  diet  became 
more  and  more  highly  nutritious,  until  out  of  100  tadpoles 
ninety-two  were  females  and  eight  males.  Coming  up  in  the 
scale  of  life  it  has  been  found  that  among  mammals  the  same 
principle  holds,  although  of  course  other  influences  come  in 
more  than  among  the  lower  orders. 

Another  feature  that  is  believed  to  have  an  influence  upon 
sex  is  the  time  of  impregnation.  The  fresher  the  ovum  when 
fertilized  the  greater  the  likelihood  that  the  offspring  will  be 
a  female.  If  this  conclusion  is  correct  eggs  laid  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  litter  should  hatch  a  larger  proportion  of  pullets 
than  eggs  laid  later. 

The  relative  age  of  the  parents  is  believed  to  affect  the 
sex.  Where  the  male  parent  is  the  older  the  offspring  are 
preponderatingly  male,  and  where  the  ages  are  even,  or  where 
the  mother  is  the  superior  in  age,  the  preponderance  is  the 
other  way.  I  find  that  this  is  a  theory  quite  generally  held. 
I  sometimes  receive  letters  from  would-be  purchasers  asking 
for  eggs  from  hens  mated  with  cockerels.  It  is  a  theory  very 
easy  to  test,  and  the  reader  should  give  it  a  trial  in  his  yards. 

Temperature  is  also  a  feature  to  be  reckoned  with.  I  have 
noticed  in  my  own  yards  that  in  the  cold  months  the  pro- 
portion of  pullets  hatched  is  smaller  than  it  is  later  in.  the 


51 


season.  Take  the  plant  lice  which  .multiply  so  rapidly  upon 
the  rose  bushes,  fruit  trees,  and  the  like,  and  which  are  known 
to  science  as  aphides.  "During  the  warmth  of  summer,  when 
food  is  abundant,  these  insects  produce  parthenogenetically 
nothing  but  females,  while  in  the  famines  of  later  autumn  they 
give  birth  to  males.  In  striking  confirmation  of  this  fact  it 
has  been  proved  that  in  a  conservatory  where  aphides  enjoy 
perpetual  summer,  the  parthenogentic  succession  of  females 
continued  to  go  on  for  four  years,  and  stopped  only  when  the 
temperature  was  lowered  and  food  diminished." 

In  my  own  experiments  and  observations  I  have  found 
several  things  influencing  sex  that  I  have  not  found  men- 
tioned by  the  authorities.  One  of  these  is  affinity.  I  have 
found  that  where  there  is  perfect  affinity,  and  the  birds  are 
happy  and  contented,  the  conditions  are  right  for  the  produc- 
tion of  females ;  but  where  the  birds  are  not  well  mated  and 
frequent  quarrels  ensue  the  offspring  are  likely  to  be  largely 
males.  Another  thing  is  freedom  from  disturbance  and  fear. 
Where  hens  are  kept  stirred  up  by  the  presence  of  strangers 
or  shifted  frequently  from  place  to  place  their  eggs  are  quite 
sure  to  hatch  an  excess  of  males.  The  quieter  you  can  keep 
your  hens  the  more  pullets  you  will  get. 

The  greater  the  number  of  females  to  a  male  the  more 
pullets.  I  know  a  man  who  mated  two  roosters  to  118  hens, 
and  out  of  135  chickens  hatched  107  were  females. 

Now  let  me  sum  up  all  that  has  been  said  in  language  of 
another:  "Such  conditions  as  deficient  or  abnormal  food, 
low  temperature,  deficient  light,  moisture  and  the  like,  are  ob- 
viously such  as  would  tend  to  induce  a  preponderance  of 
waste  over  repair — a  katabolic  habit  of  body — and  these  con- 
ditions tend  to  result  in  the  production  of  males.  Similarly, 
the  approved  set  of  factors,  such  as  abundant  and  rich  nutri- 
tion, abundant  light  and  moisture,  favor  constructive  pro- 
cesses, that  is,  make  for  an  anabolic  habit,  and  these  condi- 
tions result  in  the  production  of  females.  With  some  element 
of  uncertainty  we  may  also  include  the  influence  of  the  age 
and  of  physiological  prime  of  either  sex,  and  of  the  period  of 
fertilization.  But  the  general  conclusion  is  tolerably  secure, 
that  in  the  determination  of  sex  influences  inducing  katabol- 
ism  (or  waste)  tend  to  result  in  the  production  of  males,  as 
those  favoring  anabolism  (or  repair)  similarly  increase  the 
probability  of  females." 

This  is  the  law  of  sex,  so  far  as  it  can  be  stated  at  present. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  Trap  Nest  and  Its  Users. 


Within  the  past  few  years  the  outfit  of  the  poultryman  has 
been  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  the  trap  nest.  As  to  the 
practical  value  of  these  nests  there  is  a  wide  difference  of 
opinion ;  on  the  one  hand  they  are  enthusiastically  advocated  ; 
on  the  other  they  are  scornfully  condemned.  The  trap  nest 
needs  a  judicial  appraisal.  It  has  been  unfortunate  in  both 
its  enemies  and  its  friends.  Many  of  those  who  have  ridi- 
culed it  have  never  tried  it,  and  those  who  have  advocated 
it  have  too  often  been  those  who  are  interested  in  it  in  a 
financial  way. 

The  principle  on  which  the  invention  rests  is  that  of  the 
influence  of  heredity.  It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  all  breeders 
of  animals  that  desirable  traits  may  be  transmitted,  and  by 
careful  mating  a  strain  may  be  permanently  established.  It 
is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  in  the  poultry  world 
some  of  the  most  popular  breeds  of  to-day  have  been  made 
within  a  comparatively  recent  time  by  the  combination  of  in- 
dividuals of  different  varieties.  It  would  seem  almost  axiom- 
atic, therefore,  that  if  one  wishes  to  establish  a  heavy-laying 
strain  he  must  breed  only  from  heavy  layers.  In  the  preced- 
ing chapter  I  have  told  how  these  layers  may  be  picked  out. 
But  there  is  always  the  possibility  that  the  poultryman  may 
be  mistaken.  The  trap  nest  box  may  be  used  in  the  breeding 
pen  for  a  time  at  least  to  supplement  the  poultryman's  per- 
sonal observation.  It  is  not  necessary  to  use  it  all  the  year 
round,  or  to  use  it  in  all  the  pens;  but  it  may  be  used  at 
times  in  certain  pens  to  good  advantage  to  ascertain  if  all  the 
hens  are  laying,  and  to  weed  out  hens  that  are  not  doing  so 
well  as  their  owners  think  they  ought,  and  hens  that  lay  small, 
misshapen  or  poorly-colored  eggs. 

The  fancier  also  may  make  good  use  of  the  trap  nest  in 
the  breeding  season,  to  enable  him  to  select  the  eggs  of  indi- 
vidual layers.  He  may  have  in  a  pen  a  hen  of  unusual  beauty 
or  excellence,  the  offspring  of  which  he  desires  to  keep  for  his 
own  use.  The  trap  nest  will  enable  him  to  pick  out  the  eggs 
this  hen  lays,  and  then  by  markings  on  the  feet  of  chicks 
hatched  from  these  eggs  it  is  easy  to  tell  them  from  the  rest. 


53 


THE  GOWELL  TRAP  NEST. 

There  are  many  trap  nests  on  the  market.  The  right  to 
use  these  nests,  with  plans  for  their  construction,  costs  from 
one  to  three  dollars.  Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  G.  M. 
Gowell,  agriculturist  of  the  Maine  Experiment  Station,  I  am 
able  to  present  my  readers  with  the  plan  for  a  nest  box  free 
of  charge.  The  nest  box  here  described  was  made  by  Mr. 
Gowell  after  a  careful  study  of  the  various  nest  boxes  on  the 


Single   Nest   Box. 

market,  and  is  intended  to  combine  their  excellences  and 
avoid  their  defects.  This  is  the  box  that  is  illustrated  here, 
and  the  description  of  it  is  in  Mr.  Gowell's  own  words : 

"The  nest  box  is  very  simple,  inexpensive,  easy  to  attend, 
and  certain  in  its  action.  It  is  a  box-like  structure,  without 
end  or  cover,  and  is  twenty-eight  inches  long,  thirteen  inches 
wide  and  thirteen  inches  deep — inside  measurements.  A  di- 


54 


vision  board  with  a  circular  opening  seven  and  one-half  inches 
in  diameter  is  placed  across  the  box  twelve  inches  from  the 
back  end  and  fifteen  inches  from  the  front  end.  The  back 
section  is  the  nest  proper.  Instead  of  a  closed  door  at  the  en- 
trance, a  light  frame  of  inch  by  inch  and  a  half  stuff  is  covered 
with  wire  netting  of  one-inch  mesh.  The  door  is  ten  and 
one-half  inches  wide  and  ten  inches  high  and  does  not  fill  the 
entire  entrance,  a  space  of  two  and  a  half  inches  being  left  at 
the  bottom  and  one  and  a  half  inches  at  the  top,  with  a  good 
margin  at  each  side  to  avoid  friction.  If  it  filled  the  entire 
space  it  would  be  clumsy  in  its  action.  It  is  hinged  at  the 
top  and  opens  up  into  the  box.  The  hinges  are  placed  on  the 
front  of  th'e  door  rather  than  at  the  center  or  back,  the  better 
to  secure  complete  closing  action. 

"The  trip  consists  of  one  piece  of  stiff  wire  about  three-six- 
teenths of  an  inch  in  diameter  and  eighteen  and  one-half  inches 
long,  bent  as  shown  in  drawing.  A  piece  of  board  six  inches 


II  in. 
Trip  Wire. 


in.  . 

— rfl 


wide  and  just  long  enough  to  reach  across  the  box  inside  is 
nailed  flatwise  in  front  of  the  partition  and  one  inch  below 
the  top  of  the  box,  a  space  of  one-fourth  of  an  inch  being  left 
between  the  edge  of  the  board  and  the  partition.  The  purpose 
of  this  board  is  only  to  support  the  trip  wire  in  place.  The  six- 
inch  section  of  the  trip  wire  is  placed  across  the  board  and  the 
long  part  of  the  wire  slipped  through  the  quarter-inch  slot, 
and  passed  down  close  to  and  in  front  of  the  center  of  the 
seven  and  a  half  inch  circular  opening.  Small  wire  staples  are 
driven  nearly  down  over  the  six-inch  section  of  the  trip  wire 
into  the  board  so  as  to  hold  it  in  place  and  yet  let  it  roll  side- 
wise  easily. 

"When  the  door  is  set,  the  half-inch  section  of  the  wire 
marked  A  comes  under  a  hardwood  peg  or  tack  with  a  large 
round  head,  which  is  driven  into  the  lower  edge  of  the  door 
frame.  The  hen  passes  in  through  the  circular  opening  and  in 
doing  so  presses  the  wire  to  one  side,  and  the  trip  slips  from  its 


55 


connection  with  the  door.  The  door  promptly  swings  down 
and  fastens  itself  in  place  by  its  lower  edge,  striking  the  light 
end  of  a  wooden  latch  or  lever,  pressing  it  down  and  slipping 
over  it;  the  lever  immediately  coming  back  into  place  and  lock- 
ing -the  door.  The  latch  is  five  inches  long,  one  inch  wide  and 
a  half  inch  thick,  and  is  fastened  losely  one  inch  from  its  cen- 
ter to  the  side  of  the  box,  so  that  the  outer  end  is  just  inside 
the  door  when  it  is  closed.  The  latch  acts  quickly  enough  to 
catch  the  door  before  it  rebounds.  It  was  feared  that  the  noise 
arising  from  the  closing  of  the  door  might  startle  the  hens,  so 
instead  of  wooden  stops  pieces  of  old  rubber  belting  were 
nailed  at  the  outside  entrances  for  the  door  to  strike  against. 
"The  double  box  with  nest  in  the  rear  end  is  necessary,  as 
when  a  bird  has  laid  and  desires  to  leave  the  nest,  she  steps  to 
the  front  and  remains  there  until  released.  With  one  section 
only,  she  would  be  likely  to  crush  the  egg  by  standing 
upon  it." 


Nest  Boxes  in  Position. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Breeding  for  Two  Hundred  Eggs  a  Year. 


Most  of  our  domestic  animals  and  birds  are  descendants  of 
some  wild  prototype.  In  the  zoological  gardens  of  Hamburg 
and  New  York  are  living  specimens  of  the  primitive  wild 
horse  of  Central  Asia — funny,  big-headed  little  brutes  that  are 
representatives  of  some  type  of  horse  that  must  be  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  years  old.  Dogs  are  descendants  of  wolves 
and  jackals  and  perhaps  of  one  or  two  species  of  wild  dogs  that 
have  become  extinct.  Pigeons  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  the 
rock  pigeon,  which  has  a  vast  range  from  Northern  and  East- 
ern Europe  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  to  Madeira 
and  the  Canary  Islands,  to  Abysinia,  India  and  Japan. 

For  the  prototype  of  our  domestic  fowl  we  must  go  to  Asia, 
and  especially  to  Northern  India,  where  the  Himalayas  lift 
their  snowy  crests  far  up  into  the  sky.  Here  we  shall  find  a 
l>ird  running  wild  through  the  dense  forests  and  jungles,  which 
is  believed  to  be  identical  with  the  parent  type  from  which  all 
•domestic  fowls  have  come.  The  bird  closely  resembles  the 
black-breasted  Indian  Game,  with  which  we  are  all  familiar, 
albeit  somewhat  smaller  in  size  and  carrying  the  tail  more  hor- 
izontally. From  this  bird  have  come  all  the  varieties  of  our 
domestic  fowls — the  Stately  Spanish,  the  Crested  Polish,  the 
lordly  Brahma,  the  elegant  Leghorn,  the  practical  Plymouth 
Rock,  the  snowy  Wyandotte  and  the  diminutive  Bantam. 
Natural  and  artificial  selection,  continued  for  many  years,  has 
created  all  these  differences. 

Even  more  remarkable  than  the  difference  in  plumage  and 
form  that  have  been  brought  about  by  breeding  is  the  differ- 
ence in  egg  production.  Callus  Bankiva,  as  this  wild  jungle 
fowl  is  called,  lays  from  six  to  ten  eggs  a  year,  while  some  of 
our  domestic  fowls  have  been  known  to  lay  over  300.  This 
vast  increase  in  egg  production  has  been  brought  about  by  im- 
proved nutrition  and  by  breeding  from  prolific  layers.  In 
other  chapters  I  have  emphasized  sufficiently  the  importance 
of  care  and  feeding  in  egg  production ;  in  this  I  wish  to  call 
attention  to  the  subject  of  breeding. 


57 


THE  THREE  LAWS  OR  PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING 
REPRODUCTION. 

Breeders  now  recognize  three  laws  or  principles  underlying 
the  whole  subject  of  reproduction.  1.  Inheritance.  By  inher- 
itance is  meant  the  tendency  of  parents  to  repeat  themselves 
in  their  offspring,  and  of  offspring  to  resemble  their  parents. 
It  is  because  of  this  law  of  inheritance  that  anything  like  sci- 
entific breeding  is  possible.  If  parents  did  not  have  a  procliv- 
ity to  repeat  themselves  in  their  offspring  and  if  offspring  did 
not  have  a  proclivity  to  resemble  their  parents,  the  breeder 
might  well  abandon  his  task  as  hopeless.  2.  Variation.  By 
variation  is  meant  the  tendency  of  offspring  to  differ  from  the 
parents.  The  infant  is  never  an  exact  copy  of  the  father  or 
mother;  it  possesses  an  independent  individuality  of  its  own. 
thus  the  product  of  A  and  B  is  never  A  or  B,  even  AB  or 
BA;  it  is  AB  plus  X;  in  other  words  there  enters  in  an  un- 
known element  to  influence  the  result.  It  is  this  law  of  varia- 
tion that  makes  it  possible  to  improve  the  species ;  the  parents 
may  be  so  mated  that  the  offspring  will  be  better  and  stronger 
than  either  one  of  them.  3.  Reversion.  There  is  a  propensity 
to  go  backward  as  well  as  forward — to  return  to  some  primi- 
tive type.  Where  mating  is  indiscriminate  the  tendency  to  re- 
version is  very  strong. 

BREED   FROM   YOUR   BEST   BIRDS. 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  where  it  is  possible  to  for- 
mulate some  rules  for  breeding.  The  first  is  this :  Breed  from 
your  best  birds.  By  best  birds  I  mean  birds  that  will  best  en- 
able you  to  reach  your  ideal.  If  your  ideal  is  beauty  breed  from 
birds  that  will  give  you  beauty;  if  your  ideal  is  utility  breed 
from'  birds  that  will  give  you  utility.  We  now  see  why  it  is 
so  difficult  to  have  a  show  bird  and  an  egg  bird  in  the  same 
specimen.  The  breeder  must  sacrifice  somewhere — either  on 
the  score  card  or  the  egg  record.  It  is  possible  to  have  a  good 
looker  and  a  good  layer  in  the  same  bird ;  but  I  do  not  believe 
that  it  is  possible  to  have  a  bird  that  will  win  in  Boston,  New 
York  or  Chicago,  and  at  the  same  time  lay  200  eggs  a  year. 
The  reader  must  make  his  choice.  I  have  made  mine.  Utility 
first,  beauty  afterward.  I  like  to  see  a  beautiful  bird  as  well-as 
anyone,  but  I  can't  afford  to  breed  for  plumage  and  points. 
My  White  WTyandottes  sometimes  show  some  brass;  they 
stand  higher  than  I  like ;  but  they  will  lay — summer  and  win- 


58 


ter,  hot  or  cold,  wet  or  dry- — lay  so  that  I  sometimes  fear  they 
will  lay  themselves  to  death.  They  are  a  money-making  prop- 
osition for  me  and  for  my  customers,  even  if  they  cannot  win 
at  the  big  shows. 

BREED  FROM  MATURE  BIRDS. 

The  only  bird  fit  to  breed  from  is  one  that  is  in  good  health 
and  thoroughly  mature.  Probably  the  best  mating  is  a  vigor- 
ous, well-grown  cockerel  with  year-old  hens;  next  to  that  a 
cock  with  mature  pullets.  A  pullet  should  have  laid  out  at 
least  one  litter  before  she  is  put  into  a  breeding  pen.  Even 
then  it  is  better  not  to  use  her,  if  you  can  help  it.  There  is  no 
surer  way  of  running  out  a  flock  than  to  breed  from  immature 
birds. 

THE  MALE. 

You  often  hear  it  said  that  "the  rooster  is  half  the  pen."  It 
is  meant  by  this  that  one-half  the  blood  of  the  offspring  will 
come  from  the  male  side.  Such  being  the  case  it  is  highly  im- 
portant that  the  cock  or  cockerel  should  be  a  good  bird.  A  few 
paragraphs  back  I  spoke  of  the  fact  that  the  hen  in  her  wild 
state  laid  from  six  to  ten  eggs  a  year.  The  average  farmer's 
hen  lays  from  75  to  100  eggs  in  the  same  time.  What  has 
made  the  increase?  It  has  come,  as  I  have  said,  from  im- 
proved nutrition  and  from  selection.  But  the  selection  has  all 
been  on  the  male  side!  It  is  the  practice  on  the  farm,  and  I 
doubt  not  has  been  for  generations,  to  keep  the  best  male  to 
breed  from,  but  to  breed  indiscriminately  from  the  females. 
The  fact  that  under  such  haphazard  methods  of  keeping  fowls 
as  have  prevailed  in  the  past,  egg  production  has  increased 
tenfold,  is  a  remarkable  tribute  to  the  value  of  the  male  as  an 
agent  in  building  up  the  egg  yield. 

CONCERNING  CROSSES. 

You  will  find  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  average 
poultry  keeper  to  mix  up  his  birds.  If  he  gets  a  flock  of  fowls 
that  begin  to  look  alike,  ten  to  one  he  will  buy  a  rooster  of  a 
neighbor  for  a  dollar  of  some  entirely  different  breed,  and  the 
result  will  be  that  the  next  fall  he  will  have  a  whole  poultry 
show  on  his  hands.  There  is  a  popular  belief  that  crosses  lay 
better  than  thoroughbreds,  and  the  method  of  procedure  is  to 
mix  up  the  birds  as  much  as  possible. 

This  whole  subject  of  crossing  needs  to  be  better  under- 
stood. Some  good  must  come  from  crossing,  or  it  would  not 


59 


be  so  universally  practiced.  Where  does  it  come  from?  It 
comes  from  the  invigoration  that  always  follows  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  blood.  The  cross-breed  pullet  lays  better  than  its 
mother  because  it  is  larger  and  stronger — it  can  eat  and  as- 
similate more  arid  stand  the  strain  of  egg  production  better. 
The  average  farmer's  flock  is  constantly  running  out.  He  does 
not  breed  from  his  best.  The  introduction  of  new  blood  coun- 
teracts this  tendency.  Consequently  the  farmer  is  converted 
to  a  belief  in  the  superiority  of  the  cross. 

But  when  you  go  beyond  the  first  cross — when  you  criss- 
cross, as  they  say — you  strike  another  tendency — the  tendency 
to  reversion.  The  mixing  of  bloods  results  in  bringing  out 
ancestral  characters.  The  criss-cross  is  not  far  removed  from 
the  red  jungle  fowl,  and  there  inevitable  comes  a  drop  in  egg 
production'. 

All  the  valuable  results  that  come  from  crossing  can  be  se- 
cured by  the  occasional  infusion  of  new  blood  from  a  male  of 
the  same  breed  as  your  own,  and  the  breed  may  be  kept  more 
pure.  It  is  not  necessary  to  introduce  new  blood  oftener  than 
once  in  two  years.  Suppose  you  send  away  for  a  cockerel  this 
fall.  The  first  mating  will  be  with  birds  with  which  he  is  en- 
tirely unrelated.  Next  fall  mate  him  to  the  best  pullets  of  his 
own  get,  and  take  the  best  cockerel  to  mate  with  the  hens  in 
the  other  breeding  pen.  If  you  find  a  strain  of  birds  that  you 
like  follow  along  with  the  breeder,  getting  a  male  from  his 
yards  every  two  years. 

Breeders  for  fancy  points  breed  in  and  in,  and  have  a  chart 
of  matings  that  is  as  intricate  as  a  bicycle  road  map.  It  is  im- 
passible to  produce  show  birds  that  will  win  in  the  hottest 
competition  without  in  and  in  breeding.  But  the  reader  of  this 
book  has  no  necessity  to  resort  to  any  such  procedure — that  is 
if  he  is  after  eggs  first  and  not  feathers  and  frills. 

FERTILE  EGGS  AND  HOW  TO  GET  THEM. 

To  get  fertile  eggs  three  things  are  necessary — maturity, 
vitality,  comfort.  The  conditions  in  the  breeding  pen  must  be 
such  as  to  promote  maximum  vitality.  Where  the  male  is 
immature,  where  the  house  is  so  cold  that  the  food  eaten  goes 
to  maintain  the  caloric,  where  the  fowls  are  alive  with  vermin 
or  rotten  with  disease,  the  fertility  will  be  low.  Inbreeding 
also  tends  to  fertility.  So  does  lack  of  exercise  and  overfat 
condition  of  fowls  in  the  breeding  pen. 

Doubtless  diet  has  an  important  effect  upon  fertility.  Un- 
less every  element  needed  for  the  embryo  is  present,  the  egg 


60 


will  be  infertile  or  the  chick  will  die  in  the  shell.  There  are 
some  kinds  of  food  that  stimulate  the  genital  organs  and  pro- 
mote sexual  activity.  Raw  onions  chopped  fine  and  fed  in 
the  mash  twice  a  week  are  excellent  during  the  breeding 
season.  Clover  is  also  a  valuable  food  for  fertility. 

Where  fertile  eggs  are  wanted  the  hen  must  not  be  pushed 
too  hard  for  egg  production.  My  own  method  is  to  push  my 
pullets  the  first  year.  I  reserve  the  best  layers  to  breed  from, 
and  do  not  push  them  the  second  year;  but  let  them  take 
things  easy.  They  have  made  their  record  and  deserve  a  rest. 
When  the  breeding  season  comes  they  are  in  prime  condition, 
and  lay  large,  highly  colored  eggs  which  hatch  hardy  chicks. 

It  pays  to  alternate  males  where  high  fertility  is  desired, 
allowing  three  males  for  two  pens,  keeping  two  in  active  serv- 
ice and  the  third  shut  up  to  rest.  Cocks  have  their  favorites, 
and  where  one  male  runs  with  a  flock  some  hens  are  neglected ; 
but  where  males  are  alternated  all  are  likely  to  be  served. 

Many  eggs  fail  to  hatch  because  they  are  not  properly 
cared  for.  It  takes  but  little  to  kill  the  germ.  One  reason 
farmers  get  such  poor  results  in  winter  is  that  they  are  not 
careful  to  gather  their  eggs  several  times  a  day.  The  opinion 
is  common  among  them  that  an  egg  must  be  frozen  hard 
enough  to  crack  the  shell  before  it  is  unfit  to  put  under  a  hen. 
Eggs  should  be  gathered  when  warm  and  kept  in  a  tempera- 
ture of  from  40  to  60  degrees.  In  shipping  eggs  to  customers 
they  should  be  moved  in  the  middle  of  the  day  and  protected 
from  extremes  of  temperature  as  much  as  possible. 

WHY  EGGS  ARE  NOT  FERTILE  IN  WINTER. 

Also  every  winter  some  person  of  my  acquaintance  buys  an 
incubator  and  starts  in  to  raise  broilers  for  the  city  market. 
The  result  is  inevitably  disappointment.  The  percentage  of 
fertility  is  so  low  and  the  mortality  among  the  chicks  so  great, 
that  the  books  show  a  loss  instead  of  a  profit  at  the  end  of  the 
season.  The  reason  why  the  fertility  is  so  low  in  winter  is 
purely  physiological.  "The  testicles  of  birds  vary  greatly  in 
size  according  to  the  season  of  the  year  in  which  they  are  ob- 
served. In  winter  they  are  very  small,  with  a  comparatively 
insignificant  blood  supply;  but  in  spring,  as  the  breeding 
season  comes  on,  they  enlarge  to  five  or  ten  times  the  weight 
during  winter,  the  vessels  are  distended  with  blood  and  the 
height  of  functional  activity  is  reached."  To  get  fertile  eggs 
in  winter,  therefore,  the  house  must  be  warm,  or  eggs  must  be 
imported  from  the  South. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Incubation — Artificial   and   Natural. 


As  the  poultry  business  is  now  conducted  it  is  the  practice 
for  each  poultryman  to  get  out  enough  chicks  in  the  spring  to 
supply  him  with  layers  in  the  fall.  There  is  no  reason,  how- 
ever, why  the  great  law  of  specialization  should  not  obtain  in 
the_  poultry  business  as  in  nearly  every  other,  and  why  in  the 
future  we  should  not  have  entire  plants  devoted  to  the  rearing 
of  young  stock  and  other  plants  devoted  wholly  to  the  produc- 
tion of  eggs.  At  present,  however,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
poultryman  to  know  how  to  raise  his  own  chicks,  if  he  wishes 
to  succeed. 

It  is  a  good  rule  on  a  poultry  farm  to  have  at  least  two- 
thirds  of  the  laying  stock  pullets.  Suppose  then  a  man  intends 
to  keep  300  head  of  laying  stock  always  on  hand — it  will  be 
necessary  for  him  to  get  out  at  least  600  chicks.  Of  these  one- 
half  (or  300)  are  likely  to  be  males ;  so  that  at  the  start  he  will 
have  but  300  females.  The  poultryman  must  count  on  some 
deaths  by  disease  and  accident.  There  will  be  some  weak 
ones  that  are  better  off  put  out  of  the  way.  Then  he  should 
watch  his  flock  carefully  and  cull  closely,  according  to  the 
principles  laid  down  in  Chapter  VII.  The  man  who  gets  out 
600  chicks  in  the  spring  will  be  lucky  if  he  has  200  standard 
bred  pullets  in  the  fall. 

USE  LEG  BANDS. 

Pullets  when  they  are  put  in  the  laying  pens  should  be 
marked  with  leg  bands.  It  is  not  necessary  to  use  bands  with 
numbers ;  plain  bands  are  just  as  good.  It  is  my  personal  prac- 
tice to  mark  birds  hatched  in  the  even  years  (years  that  can  be 
divided  by  two)  with  a  band  on  the  right  leg;  and  birds  that 
are  hatched  in  the  odd  years  (years  that  cannot  be  divided  by 
two)  with  a  band  on  the  left  leg.  In  this  way  I  can  always 
tell  at  a  glance  just  how  old  a  bird  is,  and  never  confuse  a 
pullet  and  a  year-old  hen. 

INCUBATOR  OR  HEN,  WHICH? 

Sooner  or  later  the  poultryman  must  face  the  question  with 
which  this  paragraph  is  headed,  and  it  is  my  purpose  now  to 
help  him  to  answer.  In  this  matter,  as  in  most  others,  there 


62 


is  something  to  be  said  on  both  sides.  In  favor  of  the  natural 
method  there  is  first  of  all  economy.  It  costs  at  least  $25  to 
install  an  outfit  for  artificial  incubation,  and  this  is  an  expense 
that  many  can  ill  afford,  thickens  brooded  by  hens  have  more 
stamina  and  are  subject  to  fewer  diseases  than  chickens 
brooded  in  any  other  way.  There  is  no  mother  for  a  brood  of 
, young  chickens  than  can  equal  an  old  hen.  Some  of  the  most 
progressive  poultrymen  in  the  country  use  hens  exclusively, 
setting  hundreds  of  them  at  a  time. 

The  disadvantage  of  the  natural  method  is  that  it  is  never 
completely  under  one's  control.  Whatever  mental  qualities  a 
hen  may  or  may  not  possess,  she  has  a  full-grown,  large-sized 
will ;  and  no  method  has  yet  been  discovered  to  make  a  hen  sit 
when  she  does  not  want  to.  To  realize  the  largest  profits  in 
poultry,  chickens  must  be  hatched  early  and  kept  growing 
from  the  day  they  leave  the  shell.  It  is  not  always  possible  to 
have  a  supply  of  sitting  hens  on  hand.  The  sitting  hen  is  liable 
to  leave  her  nest  before  her  task  is  done,  and  no  amount  of  per- 
suasion will  induce  her  to  return.  Sometimes  she  crushes  eggs 
or  young  chicks  under  her  clumsy  feet.  At  the  best  she  can 
bring  out  but  a  few  chickens  at  a  time.  After  a  while  the  up- 
to-date  poultryman  is  almost  certain  to  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  must  have  an  incubator. 

The  advantage  of  the  artificial  method  is  that  it  is  so  com- 
pletely under  one's  control.  The  incubator  may  be  started  at 
any  time.  The  best  machines  are  so  adjusted  that  the  element 
of  chance  is  practically  eliminated,  and  every  fertile  egg  may 
be  incubated.  The  trouble  comes  in  rearing  the  chickens. 
Brooder  chickens  require  much  more  attention  and  are  more 
subject  to  disease  than  chickens  brooded  under  hens.  The 
per  cent  of  loss  is  greater.  Especially  among  beginners  there 
is  sometimes  a  "slaughter  of  the  innocents"  that  is  frightful. 

To  sum  up :  If  one  wants  early  chickens  and  wants  them 
in  quantities  and  has  the  time  to  give  to  them,  he  should  by  all 
means  get  an  incubator.  Otherwise  he  would  best  stick  to  the 
hen. 

GET  A  GOOD  INCUBATOR  OR  NONE. 

In  purchasing  an  incubator  remember  that  the  best  is  the 
cheapest.  A  poor  machine  is  dear  at  any  price.  Beware  of  the 
home-made  incubator.  Sometimes  they  work  satisfactorily, 
but  oftener  they  do  not.  I  know  a  young  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  ingenuity  who  constructed  an  incubator  from  plans 
that  he  found  in  a  paper.  By  visiting  the  machine  at  intervals 


63 


•during  the  day  and  by  getting  up  two  or  three  times  a  night  to 
trim  the  lamp  or  to  pull  out  plugs  so  that  the  surplus  heat 
might  escape,  he  was  able  to  keep  the  temperature  somewhere 
near  where  it  ought  to  be.  But  one  warm  Sunday,  while  he 
was  at  church,  the  temperature  took  a  leap  upward,  and  when 
he  returned  at  noon  the  thermometer  registered  120  degrees. 
As  a  consequence  180  chickens  were  prematurely  roasted,  and 
nearly  three  weeks  of  valuable  time  lost.  The  young  man 
has  lost  confidence  in  incubators,  and  now  hatches  his  chick- 
ens with  hens.  An  incubator  should  be  bought  at  least  a 
month  before  it  is  to  be  started  on  eggs,  in  order  that  the  op- 
erator may  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  machine  and 
"know  how  to  run  it  right. 

A    NATURAL  HEN  INCUBATOR. 

The  work  of  caring  for  sitting  hens  may  be  greatly  reduced 
by  the  construction  of  what  I  may  call  a  natural  hen  incuba- 
tor, the  design  for  which  is  shown  here. 

This  natural  hen  incubator  may  be  of  any  length ;  but 
.should  be  two  feet  deep,  two  feet  high,  and  divided  into  com- 


The    Natural    Hen   Incubator. 


partments  18  inches  wide.  Some  prefer  a  door  to  each  com- 
partment, but  I  find  it  more  convenient  to  have  the  doors 
somewhat  longer,  so  that  one  may  enclose  a  number  of  divi- 
sions. The  top  should  be  hinged  at  the  back,  so  that  it  can  be 
lifted  up  if  desired,  as  shown  in  the  cut;  but  ordinarily  it  is 
shut  down.  The  door  front  is  covered  with  chicken  wire. 
Each  compartment  should  be  in  two  divisions,  so  if  a  hen 
wishes  to  leave  her  nest  temporarily  she  can  do  so. 

If  possible,  enough  hens  should  be  set  at  one  time  to  utilize 
all  the  compartments  behind  a  door.  The  door  should  be  kept 
latched  except  in  the  morning  when  it  is  opened,  the  hens 
taken  off,  fed  and  watered  and  left  to  dust.  In  from  10  to  20 


64 


minutes,  according  to  the  weather,  the  hens  should  be  driven 
back.  As  the  hens  are  all  set  at  the  same  time  it  makes  no 
difference  which  compartment  a  hen  enters.  She  will  find  eggs 
ready  for  her. 

THE  SITTING  HEN. 

Where  incubation  is  carried  on  by  the  natural  method  it  is 
important  to  have  a.  supply  of  sitting  hens  on  hand  in  March, 
April  and  May,  in  order  that  the  chicks  may  be  hatched  early. 
While  it  is  true  that  no  method  has  yet  been  discovered  to 
make  a  hen  sit  at  will,  it  is  also  true  that  the  instinct  may  be 
encouraged.  As  soon  as  we  understand  the  philosophy  of  in- 
cubation we  may  go  to  work  to  bring  about  the  desired  result. 
In  a  state  of  Nature  when  does  the  hen  sit?  In  summer.  Why 
in  summer?  Because  the  reproductive  instinct  has  been  stim- 
ulated by  the  hot  weather.  Because  she  has  laid  her  litter 
out.  Because  she  has  become  fat  and  sluggish.  It  is  evident 
that  if  we  can  reproduce  these  conditions  we  can  hasten  incu- 
bation. 

Old  hens  make  the  best  sitters,  because  they  are  not  so- 
active  as  young  ones.  The  treatment  of  hens  that  are  kept  ior 
sitters  should  be  radically  different  from  the  treatment  of  hens 
that  are  kept  for  layers.  They  should  be  confined  more  closely 
and  fed  differently.  Corn  should  form  an  important  part  of 
their  food.  As  soon  as  a  hen  shows  symptoms  of  broodiness 
she  should  be  encouraged.  She  should  be  taken  at  night  and 
placed  in  a  nest  prepared  for  her  in  a  dark,  quiet  place.  This 
nest  should  contain  china  eggs,  and  should  be  covered  with  a 
burlap  bag  to  make  it  dark.  The  next  morning  the  bag  should 
be  removed  and  the  hen  let  out  for  food  and  water.  If  she  goes 
back  it  is  safe  to  entrust  her  with  real  eggs. 

The  comfort  of  a  sitting  hen  should  be  scrupulously  looked 
after.  Before  she  is  placed  on  the  nest  she  should  be  thor- 
oughly dusted  with  some  good  insect  powder  and  again  just 
before  she  brings  off  her  brood.  She  should  be  taken  off  the 
nest,  fed  and  watered  and  given  a  chance  to  dust  herself  every 
day.  Sitting  hens  should  be  fed  on  whole  corn,  as  that  is 
slowly  digested  and  is  a  heat-forming  food. 

TESTING  THE  EGGS. 

While  it  is  essential  that  the  sitters  be  kept  as  quiet  as  pos- 
sible, yet  it  is  important  that  the  eggs  be  tested  once  or  twice 


65 


during  the  period  of  incubation.  Egg  testers  can  be  purchased 
at  a  low  price  from  the  manufacturers  of  incubators  or  at  poul- 
try supply  stores.  Eggs  must  be  tested  in  a  dark  room  or  at 
night.  The  first  test  should  be  made  at  the  expiration  of  seven 
days.  If  the  egg,  when  looked  at  in  the  tester,  is  clear,  it  is  in- 
fertile and  should  be  removed  from  the  nest.  If  the  egg,  when 
looked  at,  is  cloudy  or  dark,  with  a  well  defined  air  space  at  the 
big  end,  incubation  has  begun.  The  water  test,  described  in 
the  next  section,  should  be  made  on  the  nineteenth  day,  and 
eggs  with  dead  germs  in  them  taken  out. 

THE  WATER  TEST. 

Where  a  sitting  hen  does  not  have  a  chance  to  get  out 
doors,  her  owner  should  supply  moisture  to  make  good  the  loss 
to  the  eggs  by  evaporation.  Eggs  should  be  sprinkled  on  the 
seventh  and  on  the  fourteenth  day.  Remove  the  hen  from  the 
nest  and  with  a  whisk  broom  sprinkle  the  eggs  thoroughly  with 
water  of  a  temperature  of  95  degrees.  On  the  nineteenth  day 
the  eggs  should  be  given  a  bath.  Fill  a 'pail  with  water  of  the 
temperature  of  95  degrees,  and  after  it  has  become  still  drop 
the  eggs  in  it  one  by  one,  letting  them  remain  from  one  to 
three  minutes.  If  there  is  a  lively  chick  in  the  egg  in  a  minute 
or  two  it  will  begin  to  bob  up  and  down  as  a  float  does  on  the 
water  when  a  fish  is  nibbling  at  the  bait  below.  Take  the  egg 
out  and  put  it  back  in  the  nest,  wiping  it  with  a  towel  if  it'  is 
winter,  but  letting  the  surplus  water  remain  if  it  is  summer. 
In  case  an  egg  does  not  show  any  movement  after  being  in 
the  water  three  minutes — if  it  does  not  "jump'' — you  might  as 
well  throw  it  away,  as  it  will  not  incubate.  Chicks  from 
eggs  treated  in  this  way  come  out  strong  and  clean  and  make  a 
surprising  growth. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Chicks  and  Their  Care. 


Poultry  keeping  is  not  with  me  a  means  of  livelihood,  but 
is  more  in  the  nature  of  a  recreation.  It  is  a  matter  of  personal 
pride  with  me,  however,  to  make  poultry  keeping  pay.  I  do  not 
at  present  get  out  my  own  chicks,  but  supply  eggs  to  those 
who  have  a  knack  for  the  business  and  let  them  hatch  chicks 
for  me  and  keep  them  until  they  are  weaned.  Then  I  select 
what  I  want  in  accordance  with  the  principles  laid  down  in 
Chapter  VII.  People  often  wonder  how  I  get  such  a  growth 
on  my  chicks  after  I  take  them  into  my  hands.  The  reason  is 
very  simple.  I  select  only  as  many  chicks  as  I  have  room  for 
and  I  keep  chicks  of  the  same  age  together.  The  average  poul- 
try keeper  gets  out  altogether  too  many  chicks.  There  is  a 
temptation  when  eggs  are  hatching  well  to  set  every  hen  that 
is  broody  or  to  fill  up  the  incubator  just  once  more.  There  is 
plenty  of  room  for  the  chicks  at  first,  but  as  they  grow  older 
they  are  crowded  and  do  not  do  so  well  as  they  ought.  Then 
when  chicks  of  different  ages  are  left  together,  there  is  too 
much  "rough  house"  for  the  younger  ones  and  they  become 
stunted.  If  you  want  fine  birds  get  out  only  as  many  chicks 
as  you  have  room  for,  divide  them  into  small  flocks,  and  keep 
chicks  of  the  same  age  by  themselves. 

WHY  NOT  INSTALL  A  BROODER? 

Even  where  an  incubator  is  not  employed  a  brooder  may  be 
installed  to  good  advantage.  I  know  a  man  who  gets  out  in 
the  neighborhood  of  1,000  chicks  every  spring — hatching  them 
all  under  hens  and  brooding  them  in  brooders.  I  am  as  great 
an  admirer  of  the  American  hen  as  any  other  man,  but  I  con- 
fess that  her  conduct  as  a  mother  is  often  not  such  as  to  im- 
press me  with  an  exalted  opinion  of  her  mentality. 

The  best  brooder,  in  my  opinion,  is  one  built  for  100  chicks, 
and  costing  about  $12,  just  as  the  best  incubator  is  one  built 
for  200  eggs  or  thereabouts.  The  out-door  brooder  is  not  gen- 
erally satisfactory,  as  it  is  difficult  to  keep  chicks  warm  enough 
in  it  when  the  temperature  ranges,low.  The  brooder  should  be 
placed  in  a  brooder  house,  and  there  is  no  better  brooder  house 
in  my  opinion  than  the  colony-community  house  described  in 
Chapter  II. 


67 


Be  sure  to  set  the  brooder  where  the  sun  will  not  shine  on 
it,  in  installing  it  in  a  house,  and  do  not  put  more  than  60  chicks 
in  a  100-chick  brooder. 

REMOVING  CHICKS  TO  BROODER. 

We  will  now  assume  that  the  period  of  incubation  is  com- 
pleted, and  that  the  chicks  are  ready  to  be  removed  from  the 
nest.  It  is  24  hours  at  least  since  the  last  chicks  broke  the 
shell,  and  may  be  48»  hours  since  the  first  hardy  pioneer  made 
his  entrance  into  our  sinful  world.  I  assume  that  two  or  three 
times  while  the  chicks  were  hatching  you  gently  lifted  up  the 
mother  hen  and  removed  the  fragments  of  broken  egg  shell 
from  the  nest. 

And  now  comes  the  most  important  and  in  some  ways  the 
most  disagreeable  part  of  the  whole  business — the  transfer  of 
the  chicks  from  the  nest  to  the  brooder,  which  may  be  some 
distance  away.  You  cannot  choose  your  day — it  may  be  cold  or 
it  may  be  warm — but  you  can  choose  the  warmest  part  of  it 
for  your  purpose.  Better  take  your  wife  with  you,  if  you  are 
fortunate  enough  to  have  one.  Take  a  shallow  basket,  such  as 
is  used  for  marketing,  and  line  the  bottom  with  a  piece  of  old 
woolen  blanket,  which  has  previously  been  warmed.  Over  this 
lay  another  piece  of  warmed  blanket,  to  put  over  the  chickens 
when  they  are  placed  in  the  basket. 

As  each  chicken  is  taken  out  from  under  the  hen  anoint  its 
head  lightly  with  lard  or  vaseline,  to  kill  head  lice,  and  place  it 
quickly  in  the  basket.  When  the  basket  is  full  take  the  chicks 
to  the  brooder  house  and  place  them  in  the  hover,  which  has 
been  brought  to  a  temperature  of  100  degrees. 

If  'you  are  a  man  of  tender  sensibilities  you  will  feel  as  if 
you  were  a  kidnapper  or  a  manstealer  when  you  take  the  chicks 
away  from  their  mother.  You  will  feel,  as  one  man  expressed 
it  to  me,  "to  mean  to  look  a  hen  in  the  face."  But,  fortunate- 
ly, the  hen  does  not  suffer  long — she  soon  forgets.  Place  her 
in  a  bright,  sunny  pen  where  there  are  other  hens  and  a  male, 
supply  her  with  more  varied  food  than  she  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  during  the  period  of  incubation,  and  in  a  few  days  she 
will  be  scratching  and  singing  as  merily  as  of  yore. 

TWO  SECRETS  OF  SUCCESS— HEAT  AND  FEEDING. 

The  two  great  secrets  of  success  in  raising  brooder  chicks 
are  proper  heat  and  proper  feeding.  The  heat  should  come 
from  overhead,  as  this  is  the  most  natural  method,  and  should 
be  hot  air.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  young  chick  needs  a  great 


68 


deal  of  heat.  He  has  come  from  a  warm  place — the  tempera- 
ture of  his  mother's  body  being  103  degrees.  For  the  first  two 
or  three  days  the  temperature  in  the  brooder  should  be  95  de- 
grees ;  then  it  may  be  gradually  lowered,  as  the  chicks  grow, 
until  it  drops  to  80  degrees  if  the  weather  is  warm  and  pleasant. 
"The  best  rule  to  follow  is  to  observe  the  chicks.  .  .  .  If 
they  arrange  themselves  at  the  edge  of  the  brooder,  and  sepa- 
rate, by  spreading  out,  the  heat  will  be  just  what  they  desire. 
If  too  cool  they  will  come  closely  together  and  crowd.  Many 
operators  have  left  their  chicks  apparently  contented  at  night, 
only  to  find  in  the  morning  some  of  them  dead  under  the 
brooder,  because  the  heat  lowered  and  the  chicks  trampled 
among  themselves  in  the  effort  to  secure  more  warmth,  and 
this,  too,  when  (to  the  operator)  there  seemed  to  be  sufficient." 

CARE  OF  THE  BROODER. 

The  brooder  is  to  be  the  home  of  the  chicks  until  they  are 
at  least  six  weeks  old.  It  is  a  good  idea  to  keep  the  brooder  in 
the  brooder  house  until  August,  and  then  on  cold,  wet  days 
which  we  sometimes  have  in  summer  give  the  chicks  a  little 
heat.  The  floor  of  the  brooder  should  be  kept  sprinkled  with 
sand,  and  should  be  cleaned  every  morning.  The  floor  of  the 
brooder  house  should  also  be  kept  covered  with  clean  sand, 
and  the  windows  should  be  opened  every  warm  and  sunny  day. 
There  is  no  hurry  to  get  the  chicks  out  on  the  ground ;  indeed, 
it  is  better  for  them  to  spend  the  first  four  weeks  of  their  lives 
indoors. 

The  brooder  should  be  enclosed  with  a  low  fence  of  boards 
for  the  first  few  days,  so  that  the  chicks  cannot  get  far  away. 
They  should  be  given  their  first  feeds  in  the  brooder  and  wa- 
tered there,  but  in  a  little  while  the  feed  tray  and  fountain  may 
be  placed  outside  the  brooder,  but  close  to  it.  Grit  of  some 
kind  should  be  supplied. 

HOW  TO  FEED  BROODER  CHICKS. 

My  method  of  feeding  brooder  chicks  is  as  follows:  The 
first  week  or  ten  days  I  feed  rolled  oats  and  nothing  else — just 
the  same  kind  of  rolled  oats  that  I  use  on  my  own  table.  I 
feed  them  dry.  I  feed  them  in  little  troughs  made  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  keep  oats  before  the  chicks  all  the  time.  Every  day 
or  two  I  take  the  troughs  and  empty  the  oats  remaining  in 
them  into  the  hens'  dish,  and  brush  out  the  troughs  with  a 
whisk  broom.  It  may  seem  extravagant  to  feed  rolled  oats  at 


69 


five  cents  a  pound,  but  I  believe  the  foundation  of  a  chick's 
constitution  and  future  growth  is  laid  in  the  first  few  weeks  of 
its  life,  and  it  is  cheaper  in  the  end  to  feed  as  I  do  and  have  the 
chicks  live  and  thrive  than  to  feed  something  else  and  have 
them  stunted  and  die. 

At  the  end  of  a  week  or  ten  days  I  begin  to  introduce  a  little 
variety.  I  take  wheat  and  cracked  corn — one  part  wheat  to 
two  parts  corn — and  feed  a  small  quantity  of  this  in  place  of 
the  rolled  oats.  I  increase  the  quantity  of  wheat  and  corn  from 
day  to  day  and  decrease  the  quantity  of  rolled  oats,  so  that 
when  the  chicks  are  a  month  old  I  have  weaned  them  from  the 
rolled  oats  and  am  feeding  them  on  whole  wheat  and  cracked 
corn.  When  the  chicks  are  ten  days  old  I  begin  to  give  them 
green  food — a  little  at  first,  but  increasing  in  amount  from  day 
to  day.  I  feed  onion  tops,  cabbage  chopped  fine,  clover  tips, 
or  if  I  can  get  nothing  better  a  potato  baked  and  cut  in  two.  I 
give  meat  in  small  quantities  two  or  three  times  a  week.  Into 
a  kettle  of  boiling  water  I  put  a  piece  of  cheap  meat  or  soup 
bone  with  considerable  meat  adhering,  and  keep  it  there  until 
well  cooked.  Then  I  pour  off  the  liquid  and  take  the  meat  and 
chop  it  into  fine  bits,  or  grind  up  the  bone  in  my  bone  cutter, 
and  throw  a  little  to  the  chicks.  They  eat  it  greedily.  I  put  a 
little  salt  in  the  water  so  that  it  will  get  into  the  fibres  of  the 
meat,  because  I  think  chicks  need  a  certain  amount  of  salt. 

I  feed  in  this  way  until  the  chicks  are  "feathered  out,"  when 
I  begin  to  feed  them  much  as  I  do  my  hens — a  warm  mash, 
and  two  or  three  feeds  of  grain  a  day.  Until  my  chicks  are 
''feathered  out"  I  keep  food  before  them  all  the  time,  letting 
them  help  themselves  when  they  will.  I  ought  to  add  that  I  am 
careful  to  keep  cool,  fresh  water  before  them  from  the  very 
first,  and  also  charcoal  and  grit. 
BROODER  CHICKS— WHAT  ANOTHER  MAN  THINKS. 

Writes  C.  A.  Stone  in  the  Poultry  Standard:  "I  generally 
leave  the  chicks  in  the  incubator  about  24  hours  after  they  are 
practically  through  hatching,  and  meanwhile  heat  a  brooder 
to  95  degrees  for  about  every  50  or  60  chicks.  At  first  I  strew 
the  front  of  the  brooder  with  fine  grit,  and  then  give  them 
bread  crumbs  or  wheat  screenings  or  Cyphers  Chick  Food  for 
their  first  feed — just  what  they  will  eat  up  clean — and  give 
them  all  the  water  they  want.  I  generally  feed  about  five  times 
a  day  for  the  first  two  or  three  days,  and  gradually  drop  off  to 
three  feeds  at  three  weeks.  However,  after  the  first  two  or 
three  days  I  scatter  their  feed  in  a  little  litter,  and  make  them 


70 


hustle  for  it.  Nothing  under  the  sun  will  kill  young  chicks 
quicker  than  stuffing  them  and  letting  them  stand  around.  I 
also  give  them  green  food  of  some  sort  and  every  two  or  three 
days  a  mash  containing  8  per  cent,  or  10  per  cent,  of  meat  meal. 
But  above  all  things  keep  them  hustling. 

"After  the  first  two  days  I  drop  the  temperature  to  90  de- 
grees. I  aim  to  get  the  heat  down  to  80  degrees  in  the  first 
week  and  a  half  and  to  70  degrees  in  eight  or  ten  days  more. 
As  near  as  I  can  I  mean  to  drop  the  temperature  about  one  de- 
gree a  day  until  70  is  reached. 

"For  myself  I  use  outdoor  brooders  mostly,  and  while  we 
cannot  maintain  a  uniform  heat,  by  close  watching  we  can  keep 
a  comparatively  even  temperature,  as  my  experience  is  that 
after  a  chick  has  been  chilled  or  over-heated  it  is  poor  property. 
I  believe  in  getting  them  on  the  ground  as  soon  as  possible 
after  the  chicks  learn  to  run  in  and  out  of  the  warm  part  of  the 
brooder,  and  very  frequently  am  obliged  to  shovel  snow  out  of 
the  brooder  runs.  But  a  chick  will  stand  a  lot  of  cold  if  he 
keeps  on  the  move.  Of  course  they  must  be  watched  closely  in 
cold  weather  and  if  they  show  signs  of  huddling  shut  in  until 
thoroughly  warmed. 

"Some  of  my  best  flocks  have  been  raised  on  wheat  screen- 
ings alone,  but  I  have  had  good  success  with  some  of  the  pre- 
pared chick  foods.  We  must  be  governed  by  the  season  of 
year  in  moving  to  the  cool  brooder,  as  early  chicks  must  be 
supplied  with  heat  a  long  time ;  but  along  in  the  latter  part  of 
April  I  get  them  hardened  to  go  without  heat  in  about  three 
weeks.  At  this  age  they  are  practically  past  the  danger  point, 
and  if  kept  free  from  lice  and  given  proper  care  will  live  and 
thrive." 

WHEN    CHICKS   ARE   RAISED   IN   THE   GOOD   OLD 

WAY. 

There  are  many  who  prefer  the  "good  old  way"  of  brooding 
by  hens,  and  to  them  recommend  the  following  from  the  pen 
of  my  good  friend,  Mr.  A.  F.  Hunter:  "For  the  first  24  hours 
after  hatching  chicks  do  not  need  food,  as  the  portion  of  yolk 
that  has  just  been  taken  into  the  abdomen  has  not  been  fully 
digested ;  and  then,  too,  the  chick  should  get  accustomed  to  the 
fact  that  he  has  'just  been  borned'  before  his  little  crop  is 
started  on  its  seldom  empty  journey  through  life.  When  the 
hatch  conies  off  let  the  little  fellows  have  a  drink  of  pure  fresh 
water  (not  too  cold)  ;  this  invigorates  them  and  helps  clear  the 
digestive  organs  of  waste  from  digested  yolk. 


"The  first  food  should  be  bread  crumbs  and  hard  boiled  egg. 
or  johnnycake.  To  each  pint  of  food  add  a  sprinkling  of 
chicken  grit.  The  food  for  the  first  few  weeks  should  be 
johnnycake,  rolled  oats,  coarse  oatmeal  and  bread  or  cracker 
crumbs.  A  little  well  cooked  meat  finely  minced  three  times  a 
week,  and  a  liberal  supply  of  fresh  green  food,  grit,  charcoal 
and  pure  water  are  essential  to  health.  When  the  chicks  get 
to  be  six  weeks  old  they  should  have  a  cooked  mash  for  supper 
six  nights  in  the  week.  For  other  food  they  should  have  hulled 
oats,  wheat  and  a  little  cracked  corn — fresh  green  food  alwa\  s 

"From  the  first  have  a  litter  of  chaff  or  cut  clover  and  sand 
for  the  chicks  to  scratch  in ;  exercise  is  essential  to  good  diges- 
tion. Give  them  sunny  quarters,  and  provide  a  shelter  in  case 
the  sun  is  too  hot,  and  for  protection  in  stormy  weather.  When 
warm  weather  comes  be  sure  that  they  can  have  plenty  of 
freedom  and  exercise  on  the  green  bosom  of  'Old  Mother 
Earth.'  Keep  them  busy,  happy  and  hungry.  Be  careful  not 
to  overfeed.  If  you  must  coop  them  up,  make  the  coops  large 
enough  to  give  them  plenty  of  room  to  exercise  and  grow. 
Change  the  location  of  such  coops  often,  to  give  them  fresh 
ground  to  run  on." 

WHEN  TO  HATCH  CHICKS. 

Chicks  of  the  Asiatic  breeds  should  be  hatched  in  March, 
chicks  of  the  American  breeds  in  April,  and  chicks  of  the  Med- 
iterranean breeds  in  May  for  winter  egg  production.  Poultry- 
men  who  want  eggs  all  the  year  round  will  do  well  to  keep 
getting  out  chicks  from  March  to  June  and  then  start  in  again 
in  September.  Josh  Billings  quaintly  says  that  "the  best  time 
tew  set  a  hen  iz  when  she  wants  tew  set,"  and  the  man  who 
has  the  facilities  for  taking  care  of  them  will  find  that  chicks 
hatched  at  almost  any  season  of  the  year  will  not  come, in 
amiss.  I  have  known  White  Wyandotte  pullets  of  my  strain, 
hatched  in  August,  to  begin  laying  in  January,  when  in  the 
same  pen  were  pullets  of  other  breeds  hatched  months  before 
that  had  not  begun  to  lay. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Some  of  the  More  Common  Poultry  Diseases. 


There  are  comparatively  few  diseases  that  need  give  the 
poultry  keeper  much  alarm.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  our  do- 
mestic fowls  are  subject  to  as  many  diseases  as  human  beings. 
But  if  this  is  so  (which  I  greatly  doubt)  many  of  these  dis- 
eases are  so  rare  that  they  need  not  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion. In  .this  chapter  I  shall  mention  only  the  more  common 
ailments — and  give  some  rules  for  their  treatment. 

HOW  TO  DISCOVER  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  SICKNESS 

There, are  four  ways  by  which  the  poultryman  may  discover 
the  beginnings  of  sickness.  1.  General  appearance.  A  fowl 
in  health  is  alert  and  active,  plumage  smooth,  comb  red,  eye 
bright  and  clear,  appetite  good.  A  sick  fowl  js  generally 
dumpish,  plumage  rough,  comb  pale  or  purple,  appetite  poor. 
2.  Respiration.  Certain  kinds  of  disease  affect  the  respiratory 
organs  and  manifest  themselves  in  the  breathing.  The  best 
time  to  detect  a  disease  of  this  sort  is  after  the  birds  have  gone 
to  roost.  If  the  birds  on  the  roost  sneeze  from  time  to  time,  if 
the  breathing  is  labored,  if  there  is  a  rattling,  bubbling  or 
snoring  sound,  something  is  wrong  and  needs  attention.  3. 
Excrement.  The  excrement  is  a  pretty  good  index  of  the 
health  of  a  hen.  Where  the  bird  is  in  perfect  health  the  excre- 
ment is  dark  green  in  color,  tipped  with  white,  somewhat 
moist.  Where  the  excrement  is  soft  and  watery  the  digestion 
is  disturbed.  Where  it  is  light  green  in  color  there  is  danger  of 
•serious  trouble.  If  upon  examination  the  excrement  shows 
that  considerable  food  is  passing  through  undigested,  the  bird 
needs  to  be  supplied  with  grit.  4.  Odor.  Some  kinds  of  dis- 
ease— especially  roup — are  accompanied  by  an  offensive  odor, 
and  can  at  once  be  detected  by  the  smell. 

SEGREGATE  SICK  BIRDS. 

I  would  advise  all  poultrymen  to  fit  up  a  small  building  for 
a.  hospital,  to  which  all  sick  fowls  may  at  once  be  removed.  In 
the  case  of  a  contagious  disease  this  is  especially  important, 
for  the  sick  bird  if  allowed  to  remain  with  the  rest  may  com- 


73 


municate  the  disease  to  the  whole  flock.  Even  where  the  dis- 
ease is  not  serious,  the  patient  is  much  better  off  if  by  herself. 
The  hospital  should  be  kept  scrupulously  clean,  and  should  be 
thoroughly  disinfected  after  a  bird  has  been  confined  in  it  af- 
fected with  an  serious  trouble. 

DISEASES  OF  CHICKS. 

Lice. — in  the  chapter  on  "Chicks  and  Their  Care,"  I  have 
warned  the  breeder  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  lice.  I  repeat  the 
warning  here.  More  chicks  are  sacrificed  in  this  way  than  in 
any  other.  Even  if  the  chick  is  not  literally  eaten  alive  its 
vitality  is  often  so  much  reduced  that  it  readily  falls  a  prey  to 
disease.  It  is  never  safe  to  give  up  the  warfare  against  lice. 

Cramps  and  Rheumatism. — Many  persons  who  get  out 
early  chicks  have  no  proper  facilities  for  handling  them.  Per- 
haps there  is  snow  on  the  ground  and  the  chicks  cannot  get 
out  of  doors,  so  they  are  left  on  a  board  floor  or  in  a  crowded 
brooder,  and  in  a  few  days  their  legs  begin  to  draw  up,  the 
joints  become  red  and  swollen,  and  the  little  things  die.  When 
cramps,  and  rheumatism  get  among  the  chicks  transfer  at  once 
to  dry  and  roomy  quarters  where  their  Teet  can  get  on  the 
earth,  give  green  food  in  variety,  and  rub  their  legs  with  witch 
hazel.  Sprinkle  chaff  about  so  that  the  chicks  will  have  to 
scratch  for  their  food.  Reduce  the  number  of  chicks  in  the 
brooder,  if  crowded.  Give  as  much  baking  soda  as  you  can  get 
on  the  tip  of  the  handle  of  a  teaspoon,  in  a  quart  of  water. 

Leg  Weakness. — Where  young  fowls  are  forced  forward 
for  broilers  or  soft  roasters  they  are  apt  to  develop  leg  weak- 
ness, the  nature  of  which  is  sufficiently  explained  by  the  name. 
The  bird  walks  unsteadily,  lurching  from  side  to  side,  and 
sometimes  sits  when  eating  its  food.  "In  all  cases  give  cooling 
food,  such  as  bran,  barley,  rice,  green  food,  skim  milk  or  but- 
termilk and  vegetables.  Avoid  condiments,  meat  and  stimu- 
lating rations  of  all  kinds." 

Gapes. — "Gapes  are  caused  by  small  worms  which  attach 
themselves  to  the  membranes  of  the  windpipe  of  the  chick.  A 
piece  of  camphor  about  the  size  of  a  grain  of  wheat,  daily,  and 
10  drops  of  camphor  or  turpentine  to  each  pint  of  drinking 
water,  is  a  favorite  and  effective  remedy."  The  tip  of  a  feather 
dipped  in  turpentine  and  run  down  the  chick's  throat  will  dis- 
lodge the  parasite. 


74 


DIARRHOEA    OR    ENTERITIS. 

Feathering  out  is  a  very  trying  period  in  the  life  of  a  chick, 
corresponding  to  teething  in  the  life  of  a  child.  There  is  a 
double  tax  upon  the  chick's  system :  the  ordinary  demands  of 
growth  must  be  met,  and  the  little  body  must  be  covered  with 
feathers.  It  is  a  time  when  even  the  most  careful  poultrymari 
must  expect  some  fatalities,  and  the  careless  or  lazy  poultry- 
man  must  not  be  surprised  to  see  his  flock  melt  away  like  snow 
before  the  sun  in  springtime.  When  the  poultryman  goes  to 
feed  his  chicks  he  notices  one  or  two,  perhaps  more,  standing 
around  in  a  listless,  dejected  way,  wings  drooping  or  outspread, 
with  possibly  a  white  threadlike  substance  which  has  just  ex- 
uded from  the  bowels,  clinging  to  the  fluff  around  the  vent. 
The  chick  may  throw  up  its  head  and  gape.  In  a  few  hours  it 
will  be  dead.  Its  digestive  system  is  deranged,  and  it  is  suffer- 
ing from  what  is  known  as  Diarrhoea  or  Enteritis. 

It  is  better,  far  better,  to  avoid  this  disease  than  to  attempt 
to  cure  it.  The  poultryman  should  realize  what  a  critical 
period  feathering  out  is,  and  strive  to  meet  it.  Especially 
should  he  be  careful  about  what  he  feeds  his  chicks,  making 
no  sudden  changes  in  their  bill  of  fare.  Nor  should  he  let  them 
become  chilled  or  get  drenched  in  a  shower.  If,  in  spite  of  all 
precautions,  chicken  cholera  makes  its  appearance,  the  house 
and  brooders  should  be  thoroughly  cleaned,  all  drinking  ves- 
sels scalded,  and  air-slacked  lime  sprinkled  lightly  about. 
Some  good  remedies  are  as  follows :  "Boiled  rice  upon  which 
has  been  sprinkled  a  little  cinnamon,  lime-water  to  drink, 
boiled  milk  and  dry  bran."  In  mild  cases  add  one  or  two 
drams  of  sulphate  of  iron  to  a  pint  of  drinking  water.  In  very 
serious  cases  where  the  diarrhoea  is  accompanied  by  pain, 
fever  or  bloody  discharges,  give  y$  grain  powdered  opium  and 
two  grains  subnitrate  of  bismuth  every  four  hours. 
COLDS  AND  BRONCHITIS. 

Fowls  are  very  susceptible  to  colds.  The  reason  is,  I  sup- 
pose, that  they  are  subjected  to  great  changes  of  temperature. 
Poultry  houses  are  so  built  that  the  sun  shines  full  upon  them, 
and  at  midday  even  in  winter  the  interior  is  often  very  warm. 
It  is  generally  when  the  temperature  is  highest  that  the  fowls 
are  working  the  hardest.  The  conditions  are  analogous  to 
what  they  would  be  were  a  man  obliged  to  wear  a  heavy  fur 
coat  all  the  time  night  and  day  and  exercise  in  a  room  where 


75 


the  mercury  was  at  70  degrees,  and  then  sleep  in  a  room  where 
it  fell  below  zero.  Such  extremes  would  affect  the  hardiest 
constitution.  Colds  would  not  be  nearly  so  common  if  poultry 
keepers  would  open  the  windows  in  their  houses  every  day  in 
winter  when  the  sun  shines,  and  keep  them  open  from  11 
o'clock  in  the  morning  until  4  in  the  afternoon. 

The  symptoms  of  a  cold  are  sneezing,  bubbling  at  the  nose, 
watery  eye  and  perhaps  diarrhoea.  Colds  generally  cure  them- 
selves without  any  especial  treatment,  but  there  is  always  a 
possibility  that  colds  if  neglected  may  run  into  something 
serious.  Ten  drops  of  aconite  in  two  quarts  of  drinking  water 
is  a  simple  and  good  remedy  when  administered  in  season. 
For  mature  birds  a  one-grain  quinine  pill  or  one  Laxative 
Bromo  Quinine  Tablet,  given  each  night  for  two  or  three 
nights,  will  generally  do  the  business.  The  tablet  should  be 
greased,  so  that  it  will  slip  down  easily.  Here  is  a  home-made 
pill  that  is  effective :  Take  equal  parts  cayenne  pepper,  sul- 
phate of  quinine  and  sulphate  of  iron — mix  together  with  ex- 
tract gentian ;  mould  into  pellets  about  the  size  of  a  pea,  and 
give  one  every  24  hours.  (This  is  not  a  bad  remedy  for  human 
beings,  doubling  or  trebling  the  dose.)  Bronchitis  is  a  bad 
cold  accompanied  by  coughing  or  rattling  in  the  throat.  The 
treatment  is  the  same  as  for  a  common  cold. 

THE  DREAD  SCOURGE— ROUP. 

Roup  is  now  believed  to  be  a  bacterial  disease — that  is,  dis- 
seminated by  means  of  germs — and  not  as  was  formerly 
thought  the  result  of  a  neglected  cold.  If  this  is  so,  roup  can 
only  be  introduced  from  outside ;  it  cannot  originate  within. 
But  it  can  be  introduced  in  many  ways :  by  means  of  a  bird 
bpught  of  a  careless  or  irresponsible  breeder,  by  means  of  ex- 
crement brought  on  the  feet,  by  means  of  germs  or  spores 
floating  in  the  air.  The  seeds  of  roup  will  remain  for  years, 
so  that  it  is  never  safe  to  buy  an  old  henhouse,  unless  you  are 
absolutely  sure  the  disease  has  never  been  within  its  walls. 
Catarrh  is  often  mistaken  for  roup,  but  in  catarrh  the  peculiar 
smell  that  goes  with  roup  is  not  present. 

Each  new  case  as  it  comes  up  should  be  isolated.  Roup 
may  be  discovered  in  two  ways.  A  roupy  bird  generally  sleeps 
with  her  head  under  her  wing,  and  by  going  through  the  pen 
at  night  with  a  lantern  one  ma^  easily  find  her.  The  other  way 
in  which  a  roupy  bird  may  be  told  is  by  a  slight  moisture  in  the 


76 


lower  corner  of  her  eye,  or  perhaps  little  bubbles  there.  In 
well  developed  cases  there  is  a  roup  smell  that  once  known  can 
never  be  mistaken.  All  suspects^  should  be  quarantined,  fed 
lightly  on  a  warm  mash  in  which  there  is  little  ginger,  and 
given  their  drinking  water  in  disinfected  vessels.  Two  or  three 
times  a  day  spray  their  nostrils  and  mouths  with  the  following 
solution :  Extract  witch  hazel,  four  tablespoonfuls ;  water, 
two  tablespoonfuls ;  carbolic  acid,  three  drops.  Use  an  atom- 
izer, and  squeeze  the  bulb  five  tirnes  for  each  nostril  and  twice 
for  the  mouth.  The  bird  will  often  recover  under  this  treat- 
ment. 

THE    KEROSENE    TREATMENT    FOR    ROUP. 

It  is  a  question  whether  it  pays  to  doctor  a  severe  case  of 
the  roup.  Even  itf  the  bird  lives  she  will  be  worthless  as  a 
breeder,  and  it  will  be  some  time  before  she  comes  into  shape 
to  lay  again.  A  sharp  hatchet  is  about  the  best  cure  for  roup 
that  I  know  of.  Still,  if  you  want  to  give  the  bird  a  chance, 
try  the  kerosene  treatment — in  my  judgment,  the  simplest  and 
best  treatment  known.  Take  a  wooden  pail  and  fill  it  two- 
thirds  full  of  water,  and  then  pour  on  one-half  cupful  of  oil. 
Take  bird  by  the  feet  and  dip  her  head  under  water,  letting  it 
stay  there  while  you  count  three.  'Wipe  the  bird  well  with  a 
piece  of  soft  cloth,  and  return  to  the  hospital.  Some  of  the 
kerosene  will  percolate  through  the  outer  skin,  and  some  will 
be  taken  into  the  bird's  mouth  as  she  tries  to  clean  up  her 
feathers.  The  kerosene  uniting  with  the  pus  coagulates  it,  and 
in  a  few  days  the  mass  scales  off,  leaving  the  tongue  pink  and 
clean.  The  patient  is  still  weak,  and  should  be  kept  in  the 
hospital  a  while  longer  before  she  is  returned  to  her  mates. 

The  best  .diet  in  roup  is  bread  moistened  with  milk.  The 
throat  is  so  tender  that  hard  food  cannot  be  swallowed.  I  had 
a  roupy  bird  that  I  had  kerosened.  She  seemed  to  be  doing 
well,  but  had  no  appetite.  I  tried  to  tempt  her  with  warm 
mash,  but  to  no  avail.  I  put  her  out  doors  to  see  if  the  warm 
sunshine  would  not-  hasten  her  cure.  Soon  I  noticed  her  about 
the  sink  spout  picking  up  the  crumbs  that  ran  down  when 
my  wife  washed  the  dishes.  I  took  the  hint  and  gave  her 
bread  soaked  in  milk.  She  ate  heartily  and  made  a  fine  re- 
covery. 

I  would  advise  the  poultryman  to  keep  some  standard  roup 
remedv  on  hand,  and  when  the  disease  breaks  out  to  use  the 


77 


medicine  according  to  directions.  In  purchasing  a  remedy 
select  one  that  can  be  administered  in  the  food  or  water,  and 
do  not  bother  with  pills  or  powders  that  you  have  to  give  to 
the  individual  bird. 

CHOLERA. 

Next  to  roup  the  most  serious  disease  that  the  poultry  man 
is  called  upon  to  combat  is  cholera.  Cholera  would  be  even 
more  serious  than  roup  were  it  as  common.  It  is  a  disease  of 
damp,  hot  weather,  and  disappears  quickly  in  a  dry  time  or 
upon  the  approach  of  frost.  Like  roup  cholera  is  transmitted 
by  means  of  germs,  and  it  affects  not  only  the  domestic  fowls 
but  some  of  the  wild  birds  as  well. 

Approach  of  cholera  is  generally  heralded  by  loss  of  appe- 
tite on  the  part  of  the  birds  in  a  flock.  The  first  definite  symp- 
tom is  discoloration  of  the  urates,  but  in  cholera  the  urates  are 
at  first  yellow,  changing  as  the  disease  progresses  to  green. 
Diarrhoea  sets  in.  The  bird  separates  itself  from  the  rest 
stands  in  a  dejected  attitude  with  roughened  plumage,  and 
seems  asleep.  The  crop  is  extremely  thirsty.  Great  weakness 
follows,  and  in  a  short  time  the  bird  dies. 

No  satisfactory  remedy  for  cholera  has  been  discovered. 
Remove  the  infected  birds  to  a  place  by  themselves,  and  when 
one  dies  burn  the  body  or  bury  it  so  deep  that  dogs  or  foxes 
cannot  dig  it  up.  Thoroughly  clean  up  the  house  and  yards, 
and  bury  the  excrement.  Sprinkle  the  floor  and  yards  with  a 
solution  made  of  one  pint  carbolic  acid  and  three  gallons  warm 
water,  applied  with  a  common  watering  pot. 

DISEASES   OF   THE    LIVER. 

Nine-tenths  of  the  diseases  that  afflict  laying  stock  come 
from  derangements  of  the  digestive  organs  and  of  the  liver.  In 
order  to  get  eggs  it  is  necessary  to  feed  highly,  and  this  reacts 
upon  the  health.  The  poultryman  must  expect  every  now. and 
then  to  lose  a  hen.  Fortunately  the  value  of  the  individual 
hen  is  not  great,  and  he  must  not  be  disheartened  if  he  finds 
one  dead  from  time  to  time.  When  hens  begin  to  drop  off— 
as  they  will  in  the  spring — the  poultryman  must  immediately 
begin  to  revise  his  methods.  He  must  feed  a  less  stimulating 
ration,  give  more  green  food,  and  compel  his  hens  to  take 
exercise.  A  teaspoonful  of  sulphate  magnesia  to  each  pint 
drinking  water,  given  for  a  week,  then  followed  for  a  month 


78 


by  adding  one-fourth  grain  sulphate  strychnia  to  two  quarts 
water,  is  a  good  tonic.  Where  the  liver  is  affected,  as  will  be 
shown  by  the  color  of  the  comb — purple,  becoming  dark  and 
even  black — give  a  teaspoonful  of  castor  oil  once  a  day,  instead 
of  the  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  strychnia. 

CROP    BOUND. 

This  condition  is  sufficiently  described  by  the  name.  The 
bird  mopes  around,  dejected  in  appearance,  and  upon  exam- 
ination her  crop  feels  as  if.  she  had  swallowed  a  baseball.  Give 
her  a  tablespoonful  of  castor  oil  and  put  her  in  a  pen  by  herself 
for  twelve  hours,  when  the  mass  may  pass  away.  If  it  does 
not  it  will  be  necessary  to  operate.  You  will  need  someone  to 
assist  you.  With  a  sharp  knife  make  a  longitudinal  incision 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
crop,  first  plucking  out  any  feathers  that  may  be  in  the  way. 
Take  a  small  hardwood  skewer,  such  as  butchers  use,  and 
begin  to  remove  the  contents  of  the  crop.  It  will  take  some 
time.  To  make  sure  that  everything  has  been  removed  and 
that  there  is  no  obstruction  insert  your  little  finger  into  the 
outlet  of  the  crop,  where  the  food  passes  into  the  gizzard. 
Rinse  out  the  crop  with  warm  water.  Sew  up  the  opening  in 
the  crop  with  silk  thread,  making  each  stitch  by  itself,  tying 
and  cutting  the  thread  before  making  another.  Do  the  same 
thing  to  the  outside  skin.  Put  the  bird  back  in  the  pen  by 
"herself,  and  feed  lightly  on  soft  food  for  a  few  days. 

SCALY    LEGS. 

"Scaly  legs  are  the  work  of  a  minute  parasite,  and  the 
trouble  is  contagious.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  remedies, 
but  more  depends  upon  care  for  a  few  weeks  than  anything 
else.  Take  three  tablespoonfuls  of  lard  and  add  to  it  two  table- 
spoonfuls  of  kerosene  oil  and  one  of  glycerine ;  then  drop  into 
the  mixture  (which  should  be  mixed  warm,  not  hot)  two  drops 
of  carbolic  acid.  Wash  the  leg^s  of  the  fowl  and  wipe  dry,  rub 
on  the  mixture  very  thickly,  having  it  warm,  not  overlooking 
any  part.  Repeat  this  twice  a  week  for  two  or  three  weeks 
and  the  legs  will  soon  become  clean  and  perfectlv  smooth." 

A     GOOD     TONIC. 

There  are  times  when  a  good  tonic  is  of  great  value  in  the 
poultry  yard.  After  a  long,  cold  winter  or  when  disease  makes 


79 


its  appearance  and  it  is  desirable  to  reinforce  the  health  of  the 
fowls,  a  good  tonic  should  be  given.  Douglas  Mixture  is  one 
of  the  best,  and  is  used  by  poultrymen  everywhere.  It  is  made 
as  follows : 

Sulphate  of  iron,  8  oz. 

Sulphuric  acid,  l/2  oz. 

Water,  1  gal. 

Put  into  a  bottle  or  jug  one  gallon  water,  add  the  sulphate 
of  iron ;  as  soon  as  the  iron  is  dissolved  add  the  acid.  When 
the  mixture  is  clear  it  is  ready  for  use.  Dose,  a  tablespoonful 
to  every  quart  of  drinking  water.  The  drinking  vessels  while 
using  this  tonic,  must  be  glass  or  glazed  earthenware. 

MOULTING. 

Moulting  is  not  a  disease,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  something 
abnormal  or  unnatural ;  but  it  is  a  disease  in  the  sense  that  it 
is  a  state  of  discomfort  or  dis-ease.  For  best  results  in  egg 
production  birds  should  be  helped  through  the  moult,  and  the 
time  should  be  made  as  brief  as  possible. 

Remove  all  males  from  the  flock  as  soon  as  moulting  be- 
gins, for  it  is  best  for  both  the  males  and  females  to  be  sepa- 
rated at  this  time.  Feed  about  as  usual,  only  be  sure  that 
plenty  of  meat  or  green  ground  bone  is  given  in  the  daily 
ration,  and  that  plenty  of  green  food  is  always  at  hand.  Three 
times  a  week  in  dry,  bright  weather  put  a  tablespoonful  of 
flowers  of  sulphur  in  the  mash  for  every  fifty  fowls,  and  on 
alternate  days  a  tablespoonful  of  carbonate  of  iron.  Do  not 
give  the  carbonate  of  iron  to  white  fowls,  for  it  will  give  the 
feathers  a  creamy  or  brassy  tinge.  If  this  treatment  is  kept 
lip  during  the  entire  moult  the  birds  will  get  through  easily, 
as  there  will  be  no  loss  of  strength,  nor  will  any  of  them  hang 
in  the  moult,  but  keep  on  until  completed. 

EGG    EATING:    HOW    TO    PREVENT    IT. 

Egg  eating  is  a  vice  that  is  much  easier  to  prevent  than  to 
cure.  Where  the  eggs  are  gathered  at  frequent  intervals, 
where  the  hens  are  supplied  with  plenty  of  material  for  making 
shells,  where  the  hens  are  kept  busy  when  not  on  the  nests, 
egg  eating  is  practically  unknown. 

The  only  sure  cure  for  egg  eating  is  the  hatchet.  Before 
this  is  applied,  however,  an  effort  should  be  made  to  stop  the 
vice.  Two  or  more  china  eggs  should  be  placed  in  each  nest 


80 


and  plenty  of  these  eggs  strewn  in  the  litter  upon  the  floor. 
Then  pare  the  upper  beak  of  the  guilty  bird  until  it  shows 
signs  of  bleeding,  so  that  when  she  strikes  the  china  eggs 
the  pain  will  make  her  stop.  Generally  this  will  effect  a  cure. 
Something  can  be  done  by  having  the  nests  in  a  dark  place 
and  so  arranged  that  it  is  difficult  for  the  hen  to  get  at  the 
egg  after  she  has  laid.  A  nail  keg  makes  an  excellent  nest  for 
egg-eating  hens.  I  have  know^n  men  to  make  a  double-decked 
nest,  so  that  the  egg  after  being  laid  would  drop  through  a 
small  hole  into  the  receptacle  below.  Raw  salt  pork,  chopped 
fine,  is  recommended  for  egg-eating  hens ;  but  the  best  thing 
is  never  to  allow  them  to  contract  the  habit. 

Mr.  S.  D.  Fox,  to  whom  I  have  several  times  referred,  has 
a  method  of  breaking  hens  of  egg  eating  as  novel  as  it  is 
efficacious.  "My  hens  got  to  eating  eggs  one  spring,"  he  says. 
"and  I  went  to  work  to  cure  them.  I  got  an  egg,  chipped  off 
one  end  and  took  out  the  yolk  and  white.  Then  I  filled  up 
the  egg  with  soft  soap,  sprinkled  in  a  good  stiff  dose  of  cayenne 
pepper,  stuck  on  the  end  with  white  court  plaster,  and  dropped 
the  egg  on  the  hen  house  floor.  They  ate  that  egg.  The  next 
day  I  gave  'em  another.  They  ate  that.  The  next  day  I  gave 
'em  a  third.  They  didn't  eat  that,  and  they  never  ate  another 
so  far  as  I  know.  Didn't  like  the  flavor,  I  guess.  Hurt  'em? 
Wall,  no,  I  never  see  that  it  did.  Might  have  cleaned  'em  out 
a  little — soft  soap  is  good  for  that,  you  know — but  it  didn't 
rumple  a  feather,  so  far  as  I  could  see." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


Products   and   By-Products. 


Producing  the  eggs  and  rearing  the  chicks  forms  but  a 
part,  and  perhaps  the  smallest  part,  of  the  poultryman's 
business.  In  order  to  make  money  he  must'market  the  product 
to  the  best  advantage.  It  is  here,  I  am  convinced,  that  the 
majority  of  poultrymen  fail.  They  are  not  good  business 
men.  They  work  hard  enough,  but  do  not  calculate  closely 
and  do  not  sell  at  the  right  time  or  at  the  right  place.  In 
these  days  when  competition  is  so  close  and  the  margin  for 
profit  so  narrow,  the  difference  between  profit  and  loss  in  the 
poultry  business  may  consist  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
product  is  put  on  the  market. 

The  man  who  keeps  but  a  few  hens  and  does  not  make 
poultry  raising  his  principal  occupation,  will  probably  do 
better  to  sell  his  eggs  and  poultry  to  his  regular  grocer  than 
to  hunt  up  private  customers.  It  is  true  that  he  may  receive 
a  cent  or  two  a  dozen  more  if  he  sells  at  houses,  but  this  is 
more  than  offset  by  the  loss  in  time.  The  grocer  is  not  so  par- 
ticular about  his  eggs,  as  long  as  they  are  fresh,  as  is  the  pri- 
vate customer,  and  will  take  eggs  of  all  sizes  and  colors.  It  is 
true  he  does  not  wish  to  pay  in  cash,  but  the  profit  on  his 
goods  is  about  the  only  profit  he  makes  on  the  transaction ;  for 
the  grocer  is  often  compelled  to  sell  eggs  for  just  what  he  gave 
for  them.  The  grocers  are  the  great  buyers  of  eggs  through- 
out the  land. 

The  man  who  keeps  hens  on  a  larger  scale,  and  who  wants 
to  make  the  most  out  of  the  business  with  the  least  trouble, 
will  do  well  to  make  an  arrangement  with  a  city  grocer  to  ship 
him  a  certain  number  of  cases  each  week  throughout  the  year. 
The  poultryman  should  go  to  the  city  and  see  the  grocer  per- 
sonally. The  chances  are  he  will  get  an  order.  This  is  far 
more  profitable  than  selling  to  the  local  grocer.  In  the  town 
where  I  live  I  have  seldom  known  eggs  to  go  above  30  cents 
a  dozen,  and  they  remain  at  this  figure  but  a  short  time,  while 
in  the  cities  to  the  south  of  us  they  sometimes  sell  as  high  as 
45  or  50  cents. 

The  poultryman  who  produces  a  gilt-edged  product  can 
often  market  to  private  customers  to  advantage.  The  hotels 


82 


take  a  limited  number  of  fancy  fresh  eggs.  They  do  not 
take  so  many  as  one  would  think,  because  in  cooking  they  use 
cold  storage  eggs.  Clubs  are  good  customers,  and  \vjll  pay  a 
fancy  price  for  a  fancy  article.  Druggists  use  a  large  number 
of  brown  eggs  in  connection  with  their  soda  trade,  and  will 
often  pay  a  good  price  for  fresh  eggs  of  good  color.  There  are 
private  families  that  will  gladly  pay  the  poultryman  the  same 
price  they  have  to  pay  for  eggs  at  the  store,  and  pay  in  cash. 
The  advantage  of  having  private  customers  is,  that  one  can 
sell  them  beside  eggs,  poultry,  vegetables,  cream,  berries  and 
other  products  of  the  farm  and  garden. 

PRESERVING    EGGS. 

There  is  always  a  time  in  spring  when  eggs  are  very  cheap. 
The  poultryman  can  add  to  his  profits  and  at  the  same  time 
relieve  the  congestion  in  the  market  by  improving  this  oppor- 
tunity to  lay  down  a  supply  of  eggs  for  home  consumption  for 
the  year  to  come.  I  do  not  believe  in  selling  these  preserved 
eggs  for  fresh  eggs,  but  there  is  no  reason  why  the  poultry- 
man  should  not  use  them  in  his  own  family.  Neither  is  there 
any  objection  to  selling  them  in  the  fall,  provided  they  are 
sold  for  just  what  they  are — preserved  eggs  and  not  fresh 
eggs.  I  know  a  man  who  every  spring  when  eggs  are  cheap 
lays  down  400  dozen,  and  then  about  Thanksgiving  sells  them 
for  a  little  less  per  dozen  than  is  asked  for  the  best  fresh  eggs, 
clearing  up  about  $60  by  the  deal.  A  profit  of  150  per  cent,  in 
six  months  leaves  Wall  Street  out  of  sight.  There  are  two 
absolutely  sure  methods  of  keeping  eggs,  both  of  which  I 
print.  These  methods  are  the  soluble  glass  and  the  lime  water 
methods.  Of  the  two  I  prefer  the  soluble  glass,  as  cleaner  and 
more  convenient.  Bear  in  mind,  however,  that  no  method 
under  the  sun  will  keep  eggs  fresh  which  are  not  fresh  when 
laid  down ! 

LIME    WATER    METHOD. 

Slack  four  pounds  lime,  and  then  add  four  pounds  salt. 
stirring  well  together.  Add  eight  gallons  water.  Stir  and 
leave  to  settle.  The  next  day  stir  again.  After  the  mixture 
has  settled  the  second  time  draw  off  or  carefully  dip  out  the 
clear  liquid.  Take  two  ounces  each  of  baking  soda,  cream  of 
tartar,  saltpetre,  and  a  little  alum.  Pulverize  and  mix,  and 
dissolve  in  two  quarts  boiling  water.  Add  this  to  the  lime 
water.  Put  the  eggs  in  a  stone  jar,  small  end  down,  one  layer 


83 


on  top  of  another,  and  pour  on  the  solution.  Set  the  jar  away 
in  a  cool  place.  This  process  has  been  secret  in  the  past,  and 
the  recipe  has  been  widely  sold  for  $5.  The  method  is  quite 
satisfactory,  although  not  so  good  as  the  method  of  preserv- 
ing in  soluble  glass,  as  the  eggs  are  liable  to  have  a  somewhat 
limy  taste. 

SOLUBLE    GLASS    METHOD. 

Soluble  glass,  or  sodium  silicate,  is  a  liquid  of  a  rather 
smooth,  slippery  consistency,  readily  soluble  in  water.  It  is 
used  by  physicians  for  coating  bandages,  where  it  is  desired 
to  protect  the  injured  part  from  the  air,  and  may  be  obtained 
through  any  druggist  at  a  cost  of  about  75  cents  a  gallon.  For 
preserving  eggs  use  one  quart  soluble  glass  to  about  10  quarts 
pure  water.  Put  the  eggs  in  a  stone  jar,  small  end  down,  one 
layer  on  top  of  another  until  the  jar  is  filled,  then  pour  on  the 
solution.  If  the  specific  gravity  of  the  solution  is  greater  than 
that  of  the  eggs,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  add  water  until  the 
eggs  will  just  sink. 

SALICYLIC    ACID    AND    COLD    STORAGE. 

The  West  Virginia  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  has 
been  studying  methods  of  preserving  eggs,  and  finds  that  the 
treatment  with  salicylic  acid  followed  by  cold  storage  is  quite 
efficacious.  The  station  does  not  claim  that  the  method  has 
passed  the  experimental  stage,  and  does  not  advise  anyone  to 
use  it  except  in  an  experimental  way.  It  is  worth  trying,  and 
is  as  follows :  "Submerge  the  fresh  eggs  for  five  or  ten  min- 
utes in  a  solution  of  one  ounce  of  salicylic  acid  in  one  quart  of 
strong  alcohol,  and  immediately  on  removing  the  eggs  from 
the  solution,  and  while  they  are  still  wet,  wrap  them  in  ster- 
ilized cotton  and  store  in  a  box  or  barrel  in  a  dry  room,  the 
temperature  of  which  does  not  go  above  60  degrees  Fahren- 
heit." 

WOOD  ASHES  OR  SALT. 

There  are  many,  however,  who  desire  a  simpler  method 
than  any  of  these  described,  and  to  such  I  would  recommend 
either  wood  ashes  or  salt.  Wood  ashes  are  excellent.  Experi- 
ments conducted  by  the  National  Agricultural  School  in 
Germany  shows  that  eggs  may  be  kept  a  year  packed  in  wood 
ashes,  with  a  loss  of  only  20  per  cent.  Wood  ashes  are  cleanly, 
convenient  and  always  at  hand.  Salt  also  is  good.  Use  a 
grade  of  salt  a  little  coarser  than  table  salt — what  is  called 


84 


coarse-fine  salt.  Pack  the  eggs  in  a  stone  jar.  Put  in  first  a 
layer  of  salt,  then  a  layer  of  eggs,  and  so  on  until  the  jar  is 
filled.  Stand  the  eggs  upon  the  small  ends,  and  do  not  let 
them  touch.  Cover  them  completely  with  salt.  Set  the  jar  in 
a  cool  place.  I  have  known  eggs  packed  in  this  way  to  keep  a 
year,  and  to  be  as  good  at  the  end  of  that  time  for  cooking  as 
if  laid  but  a  few  days  before. 

POULTRY  MANURE— A  VALUABLE  BY-PRODUCT 
Poultry  manure  is  an  exceedingly  valuable  by-product.  It 
is  a  highly  stimulating  manure.  It  is  also  a  rich  plant  food. 
Poultry  manure  is  more  than  twice  as  valuable  as  sheep  or 
hog  manure,  and  more  than  three  times  as  valuable  as  ordi- 
nary stable  manure,  as  the  following  table  will  show : 

Nitrogen,      Phosphoric  Acid,     Potash,  Value 

per  cent.  per  cent.  per  cent.  per  ton. 

Sheep  0768  0.391  0.591  $3.30 

Pigs  0.840  0.390  0.320  3.29 

Cows  0.426  0.290  0.440  2.02 

Horses  0.490  0.260  0.480  2.21 

Poultry  Manure 0.800  to  0.500  to  0.800  to  7.07 

2.000  2.000  0.900 

Poultry  manure  is  so  powerful  that  great  care  must  be 
taken  in  applying  it.  It  should  never  be  allowed  to  come  into 
direct  contact  with  the  roots  of  the  growing  plant.  When 
applied  in  the  hill  it  should  be  well  mixed  with  the  soil. 

Poultry  manure  supplies  nitrogen  in  large  quantities  in  the 
form  of  ammonia,  but  ammonia  being  a  highly  volatile  prod- 
uct is  rapidly  dissipated.  The  problem  of  the  poultrymen. 
therefore,  in  dealing  with  hen  manure  is  to  find  some  sub- 
stance that  will  fix  the  ammonia.  Sifted  earth  is  not  good,  for 
it  is  apt  to  contain  bacteria  which  act  destructively  on  the 
ammonia  compounds.  Wood  ashes  are  worse  than  nothing, 
for  they  do  not  hold  ammonia,  but  drive  it  off  by  their  caustic 
alkaline  properties. 

The  best  thing  I  have  found  to  preserve  the  ammonia  in 
hen  manure  is  gypsum  or  land  plaster,  which  may  be  bought 
for  50  cents  per  100  pounds.  Scatter  a  few  handfuls  of  plaster 
over  the  droppings  before  you  remove  them  in  the  morning, 
and  see  that  it  is  thoroughly  incorporated.  The  result  is  a 
compound  as  valuable  as  any  commercial  fertilizer.  The 
droppings  from  a  fowl  in  one  year,  when  treated  in  this  way: 
are  worth  one-half  what  it  costs  to  feed  her. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


The   End  of  the  Two  Hundred  Egg   Hen. 


The  poultryman  who  keeps  from  200  to  500  head  of  laying 
stock  will  have  a  good  deal  of  poultry  to  dispose  of,  especially 
if  he  follows  my  advice  in  this  book  to  keep  pullets,  prin- 
cipally, for  layers.  It  will  be  quite  a  problem  to  dispose  of  this 
stock  to  the  best  advantage.  In  passing  I  would  remark  that 
the  poultryman  should  keep  his  own  table  well  supplied. 
Plump  and  juicy  broilers  and  roasters  are  just  as  good  for  him 
as  they  are  for  anyone  else.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  poul- 
tryman's  table  should  not  rejoice  once  a  week  with  broilers 
and  roasters.  During  the  summer  there  is  in  most  towns  a 
good  market  for  poultry.  The  poultryman  should  steadily  cull 
from  his  flock,  and  about  moulting  time  have  a  grand 
"round  up,"  selling  the  fowls  for  what  they  will  bring — except 
those  he  wishes  to  keep  over  for  breeders.  Quite  a  number  of 
live  cockerels  may  be  disposed  of  among  the  farmers  in  the 
fall  if  the  poultryman  keeps  a  popular  breed  and  will  sell  for 
a  fair  price. 

KILLING    AND    DRESSING    FOWLS    FOR    MARKET. 

1.  Take  the  bird  from  the  roost  at  night,  thirty-six  hours 
before  it  is  to  be  killed,  and  shut  it  up  in  comfortable  quarters. 
The  next  morning  give  it  a  good  breakfast,  but  nothing  more 
to  eat  after  this  until  it  is  killed.    Let  it  have  all  the  water  it 
will  drink.    The  water  will  add  greatly  to  the  fowl's  comfort 
and  assist  in  evacuating  the  bowels.     The  confinement  is  for 
the  purpose  of  having  the  fowl  at  hand  and  of  emptying  the 
crop. 

2.  Suspend  the  fowl  by  the  feet  at  a  convenient  height  with 
a  soft  cord,  the  upper  end  of  which  is  secured  to  a  hook  or  nail 
in  the  ceiling  or  beam  overhead. 

3.  Lock  the  wings  together  behind  the  back,  to  prevent 
flapping.     Do  this  carefully,  so  that  they  will  not  be  dislo- 
cated. 

4.  Take  the  tip  of  the  wings  in  the  left  hand,  and  with  the 
right  strike  the  fowl  a  smart  blow  on  the  head  with  a  stick  or 
cudgel.     Strike   hard   enough   to   produce   concussion   of   the 
brain  and  unconsciousness. 


86 


5.  Grasp  the  fowl  by  the  comb  or  by  the  feathers  at  the 
back  of  the  head  with  the  left  hand  and  with  the  right  insert 
the  blade  of  a  sharp  knife  in  the  neck  just  back  of  the  ear  lobe, 
on  the  under  side  of  the  neck  bone  and  parallel  with  it.     Run 
the  blade  clear  through  the  neck.     When  you  withdraw  the 
blade  twist  it  to  right  angles  with  the  neck  bone,  severing  the 
artery  in  the  throat,  and  causing  the  blood  to  flow  profusely. 

6.  Begin  to  pluck  immediately.     Pluck  up  the  breast  and 
sides  to  tail.     Remove  tail  feathers.     Unlock  the  wings,  and 
strip  them  of  long  feathers.     Remove  feathers  from  around 
vent,    pluck    the    feathers    from    back.     Finish    plucking.     If 
done  quickly  the  feathers  will  come  out  easily  and  the  skin 
will  not  be  torn.     The  bird  should  be   entirely   denuded  of 
feathers  in  ten  minutes.    In  case  rents  are  made  sew  them  up 
neatly  with  white  thread. 

7.  If  the  fowl  is  to  be  drawn,  with  a  sharp  knife  cut  a  slit 
about  an  inch   long  back  of  the  vent  and  parallel   with   it. 
through  which  insert  index  finger,  hooking  it  into  the  intes- 
tines.    Remove  intestines.     The  lower  end  of  the  intestines 
and  the  egg  sac  may  be  removed  by  enlarging  the  slit  in  the 
shape  of  a  half  circle,  until  it  joins  the  ends  of  the  vent.    This 
will  make  a  round  hole  about  the  size  of  a  silver  half  dollar. 
After  removing  the  intestines  cut  off  the  fowl's  head,  then 
draw  back  the  skin  and  take  off  about  an  inch  of  the  neck 
bone,  pull  the  skin  forward  and  tie. 

8.  For  the  Boston  and  New  England  markets  the  poultry 
should  be  picked  perfectly  clean.     For  the  New  York  markets 
the  tip  feathers  of  the  wings  are  left  on.     Do  not  singe  the 
PDdies  for  the  purpose  of  removing  any  down  or  hair,  as  the 
heat   from  the   flame   will   give  them   an   oily   and   unsightly 
appearance. 

9.  Plumping  is  recommended  by  some   dealers,  and  con- 
sists in  dipping  the  carcass  as  soon  as  thoroughly  picked  for 
ten  seconds  in  water  nearly  or  quite  boiling  hot,  and  then  im- 
mediately  into   ice-cold   water.      This   makes   the   meat   look 
plump  and  fat,  considerably  improving  its  appearance. 

10.  The   laws   of   Massachusetts   and    New   York   do    not 
require  poultry  to  be  drawn.     In  the  former  State,  however, 
the  crop  must  be  drawn  if  there  is  food  in  it  at  the  time  of 
killing.       Custom,   which   is   quite   as   potent   as   statute   law, 
requires  that  poultry  marketed  in   Massachusetts  be  drawn. 


87 


and  carefully  drawn  poultry  will  sell  so  much  more  readily 
and  for  so  much  better  prices  that  it  pays  well  to  comply  witji 
this  demand. 

TO    SCALD    A    FOWL. 

Where  the  fowl  is  to  be  eaten  at  home,  or  where  it  is  sold 
for  immediate  consumption,  many  prefer  to  remove  the 
feathers  by  scalding.  There  is  a  right  and  a  wrong  way  to  do 
this.  The  right  way  is  as  follows :  Kill  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed in  preceding  section.  After  the  blood  has  stopped 
dripping  from  the  wound  take  a  wooden  pail,  or  some  other 
receptacle,  fill  it  three-fourths  full  of  boiling  water,  and  into 
this  pour  a  pint  of  cold  water  to  reduce  the  temperature  a 
little  below  the  boiling  point.  Take  the  fowl  by  the  neck'  and 
legs  and  dip  it  into  the  water  twice — once  with  the  breast 
downward  and  once  with  the  back — getting  it  in  and  out  of 
the  water  as  quickly  as  possible.  Hang  the  fowl  up  again,  and 
begin  to  pluck.  When  the  feathers  have  been  removed  and 
the  intestines  drawn,  dip  out  two  quarts  of  water  from  the 
pail,  putting  two  quarts  of  boiling  water  in  its  place.  Put  the 
carcass  into  this,  and  let  it  stay  ten  seconds,  then  take  it  out 
and  put  it  in  water  nearly  if  not  quite  ice  cold,  letting  it  stay 
ten  minutes.  This,  as  has  been  explained,  is  "plumping,"  and 
gives  the  carcass  a  very  plump  and  inviting  appearance.  Put 
a  tablespoonful  of  salt  into  the  cold  water  at  the  same  time 
the  fowl  is  put  in.  Hang  up  the  fowl  in  a  cool  place  until  it  is 
to  be  cooked  or  sold.  Fowls  treated  in  this  way  present  an 
excellent  appearance,  and  will  keep  several  days  without  dis- 
coloration. 

PACKING  AND  SHIPPING. 

Carefully  sew  up  all  rents  or  torn  places  on  the  skin,  wash 
clean  in  cool  water,  wipe  dry  and  hang  in  a  cool  place  until 
the  animal  heat  is  entirely  out,  before  packing.  Pack  in 
clean  barrels  or  boxes  with  clean  straw,  as  follows :  First  a 
thin  layer  of  straw  and  then  a  layer  of  poultry  in  the  same 
posture  in  which  they  roost,  then  a  layer  of  straw  and  an- 
other of  poultry,  and  so  on  until  the  barrel  or  box  is  quite  full, 
finishing  with  a  layer  of  straw,  which  should  be  tucked  firmly 
into  any  crevices  in  the  sides.  Nail  the  corners  or  head  on 
securely,  and  mark  carefully  with  the  name  and  address  of  the 
dealer  to  whom  you  ship,  not  forgetting  your  name  and  ad- 
dress as  shipper,  and  notify  the  dealer  by  postal  or  letter  that 


88 


you  have  shipped  him  one  or  more  boxes  or  barrels  of  dressed 
poultry  by  freight  or  express,  as  the  case  may  be.  Always 
take  a  receipt  from  the  freight  or  express  agent,  and  ship  so 
as  to  reach  the  market  not  later  than  Friday. 

SHIPPING   FOWLS   ALIVE. 

The  great  majority  of  fowls  that  are  sent  to  market  are 
shipped  alive.  Commission  men  prefer  them  in  this  way. 
They  can  kill  them  in  lots  as  desired,  and  can  dress  them  to 
suit  the  fancy  or  caprice  of  their  customers.  The  Jews,  who 
are  now  a  large  and  important  element  in  our  cities,  will  not 
<eat  fowls,  unless  they  are  killed  by  a  rabbi,  and  this  makes  a 
constant  demand  for  live  poultry.  Fowls  are  generally 
shipped  by  express  in  old  strawberry  crates  or  small  light 
boxes  of  some  sort.  Before  being  sent  off  they  should  be 
given  all  the  whole  corn  they  will  eat  and  be  watered.  Com- 
mission men  are  continually  sending  out  circulars  soliciting 
shipments.  Some  of  these  men  are  reliable  and  some  are  not. 
In  general  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  safe  to  make  consignments 
to  firms  that  occupy  stalls  in  public  markets  or  who  have 
been  in  business  for  a  term  of  years.  Men  who  have  their 
offices  or  places  of  business  in  obscure  quarters  or  who  have 
lately  started  should  be  investigated.  If  they  are  all  right 
the  investigation  will  do  them  no  harm,  and  if  they  are  not  all 
right  it  may  save  the  shipper  a  loss  he  can  ill  afford. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Salad  and  Dressing. 


Never  get  too  old  to  learn. 

About  as  many  failures  in  the  poultry  business  come  from 
keeping-  100  fowls  where  there  is  room  for  only  25,  as  from 
any  other  source. 

Sitting  hens  should  not  be.  allowed  to  dust  in  coal  ashes, 
as  the  fine  particles  clog  the  pores  in  the  egg  shells.  Dry 
earth  is  the  best  stuff  for  a  sitting  hen  to  dust  in. 

Kainit  may  be  substituted  for  plaster  to  mix  the  manure 
in  case  a  manure  particularly  rich  in  potash  is  wanted,  and 
acid  phosphate  may  be  substituted  for  a  rich  phosphatic 
manure. 

It  is  a  good  plan  for  a  poultryman  to  keep  a  few  standard 
remedies  on  hand  all  the  time.  Then  if  disease  conies  down 
4upon  him  like  the  wolf  on  the  fold  he  is  in  a  measure  pre- 
pared to  meet  it. 

Lice  multiply  upon  a  sick  fowl,  because  its  vitality  is  so 
depleted  that  it  cannot  keep  itself  clean.  Accordingly,  when 
you  remove  a  sick  fowl  to  the  hospital  for  treatment  give  it  a 
good  dusting  with  insect  powder  before  you  administer  the 
medicine. 

Introduce  new  blood  from  time  to  time,  but  do  not  intro- 
duce it  indiscriminately.  Find  a  man  who  is  working  along 
the  same  lines  with  yourself,  and  get  your  males  from  him. 
Breed  in  two  years,  and  the  third  year  send  away  to  the  same 
man  for  more  males. 

Green  ground  bone  is  a  grand  food  for  fowls,  but  it  must 
be  fresh  and  not  fed  in  too  great  quantity.  A  correspondent 
writes  that  she  lost  77  out  of  a  flock  of  94  beautiful  chicks  in 
three  weeks  by  feeding  ground  bone  that  she  bought  of  a 
local  dealer.  Probably  the  bone  was  tainted,  or  she  fed  too 
much. 

Rats — Rats  are  naturally  granivorous,  and  prefer  corn  to 
.anything  else.  The  poultryman  should  take  advantage  of 
this  fact.  Let  him  scatter  a  handful  of  whole  corn  about 
each  rat  hole,  and  the  rat  will  not  molest  the  chicks.  It  may 
seem  rather  expensive  to  feed  rats  corn,  but  it  is  not  so 
•expensive  as  it  is  to  feed  them  on  chicken  meat.  The  poul- 


90 


tryman  should  keep  his  eye  peeled  and  his  traps  set  for  the 
rascals  at  the  same  time. 

Eggs  for  hatching — How  long  may  eggs  for  hatching 
safely  be  kept?  To  find  out,  go  and  ask  the  old  hen  that  has 
stolen  her  nest.  She  will  tell  you  that  she  has  been  hiding 
away  eggs  in  the  haymow  or  under  the  barn  for  at  least  three 
weeks,  and  that  she  expects  every  egg  to  hatch  a  chick.  In  a 
temperature  of  from  40  to  60  degrees,  eggs  may  safely  be  kept 
at  least  three  weeks  before  they  are  put  in  an  incubator  or 
under  a  hen.  They  should  be  turned  every  day. 

Medium-Sized  Fowl  Called  For — The  market  now  calls  for 
a  medium-sized  fowl.  There  was  a  time  when  the  demand  was 
for  "old  hoosiers,"  but  that  day  has  gone  forever.  I  will  tell 
you  why.  A  bird  dressing  ten  pounds  has  no  more  legs  or 
wings  than  a  bird  dressing  four  or  five.  In  the  case  of  a  large 
fowl  part  of  the  meat  is  left  uneaten  on  the  plate.  In  the  case 
of  a  medium-sized  fowl,  a  leg  or  wing  is  just  right  for  an  order. 
Shrewd  buyers  have  learned  that  it  is  more  profitable  to  buy 
two  medium-sized  fowls  than  one  large  one.  There  is  still  an 
occasional  call  for  a  large  fowl,  but  the  smaller  ones  are  the 
better  sellers. 

Be  Gentle — Be  gentle  with  your  birds.  The  hen  is  nat- 
urally timid  and  easily  scared.  When  kindly  treated,  however, 
she  becomes  tame.  Much  of  the  pleasure  in  keeping  fowls 
comes  from  having  them  so  tame  that  they  will  let  their  owner 
work  among  them  and  even  handle  them  at  his  will.  One 
should  never  lose  his  temper,  no  matter  how  great  the  provo- 
cation. The  hen  is  not  a  reasoning  creature  and  often  sorely 
tries  her  owner's  patience.  But  if  he  never  allows  himself  to 
get  angry  or  treat  her  unkindly  no  matter  what  she  may  do. 
poultry  keeping  becomes  not  only  a  source  of  pleasure  and 
profit,  but  a  means  of  moral  discipline  not  to  be  despised. 
"Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth,"  is  a 
beatitude  as  true  in  the  poultry  business  as  it  is  elsewhere. 

Precocious  pullets  seldom  make  phenomenal  layers. 

Dry  planer  shavings  make  the  best  material  for  nests. 

Select  a  breed  of  fowl  as  you  do  a  wife — to  please  yourself. 

Don't  go  into  the  poultry  business  unless  you  have  a  "call" 
to  it. 

There  is  little  danger  of  overfeeding  hens  after  they  begin 
to  lay. 


Clear  poultry  manure,  lightly  sprinkled  with  coal  ashes  or 
land  plaster  to  fix  the  ammonia  is  worth  a  dollar  a  barrel. 

If  your  method  of  feeding  gives  good  results  don't  change 
it  because  you  happen  to  read  of  someone  else,  who  feeds  dif- 
ferently. 

The  fool  knows  it  all  to  begin  with.  The  wise  man  learns 
by  his  experience.  The  wisest  man  learns  by  his  experience 
and  the  experience  of  others. 

Read  this  book  over  time  and  again  until  you  have  thor- 
oughly assimilated  it.  The  closer  you  follow  its  teachings  the 
more  dollars  you  will  make. 

To  get  rid  of  the  neighbor's  cat,  explode  a  torpedo  under 
her  tail  whenever  she  comes  around.  This  will  scare  the  cat. 
but  do  her  no  permanent  harm.  The  neighbor  will  appreciate 
the  joke,  and  you  will  get  rid  of  the  cat  and  keep  your  neigh- 
bor's good  will  at  the  same  time. 

After  a  hen  has  laid  an  egg  she  cackles.  Go  and  do  thou 
likewise !  If  your  birds  have  taken  a  prize  at  the  county  fair, 
cackle.  If  they  have  made  a  big  egg  record,  cackle.  If  you 
have  some  fine  stock  to  sell,  cackle.  In  these  days  publicity 
and  prosperity  go  together. 

If  you  are  in  the  business  for  eggs,  and  eggs  alone,  the 
sooner  you  get  rid  of  your  surplus  "crowers"  the  better.  T 
know  a  man  who  disposes  of  his  cockerels,  as  soon  as  he  can 
distinguish  them  from  the  pullets,  for  10  cents  each.  He  claims 
he  is  better  off  to  sell  them  for  this  sum  than  to  keep  them. 

Some  think  the  shape  of  the  egg  determines  the  sex  of  the 
chick  that  is  to  be  hatched.  This  is  a  mistake.  The  shape  of 
the  egg  has  no  effect  upon  the  sex  of  the  germ  is  contains.  A 
more  plausible  theory  is  that  the  shape  of  the  egg  will  in- 
fluence the  shape  of  the  chick  that  begins  its  life  in  it — a  long 
egg  giving  a  long,  rangy  chick,  and  a  short,  round  egg  a  more 
blocky  chick.  This  is  worth  investigating. 

Don't  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  have  your  chicks  begin 
to  roost.  Put  the  roost  in  their  house  one  foot  from  the  floor 
and  let  them  find  out  what  it  is  there  for  themselves.  Some 
adventurous  chick  will  discover  it  after  a  while  and  get  upon 
it ;  others  will  follow,  and  after  a  few  weeks  the  whole  flock 
will  be  roosting  at  night.  Should  there  be  any  laggards  drive 
them  about  with  the  soft  end  of  the  broom  one  or  two  nights 
until  they  are  glad  to  get  on  the  roost  with  the  rest. 


92 

The  worst  feature  of  the  poultry  business  is  its  slavery. 
The  poultryman  must  be  on  deck  365  days  in  the  year,  and  in 
leap  year  366.  Sundays  and  holidays  bring  little  relief,  for 
the  stock  must  be  fed  and  watered,  the  eggs  collected,  and  the 
chicks  and  sitting  hens  looked  after  as  well  as  at  other  times. 
On  small  plants  it  is  difficult  to  get  a  man  to  step  in  for  a  few 
days,  who  will  not  demoralize  the  whole  .thing.  No  man 
should  go  into  the  poultry  business  who  does  not  have  a  real 
love  for  it ;  otherwise  the  monotony  and  slavery  will  become 
intolerable. 

What  rewards  may  a  well-equipped  poultryman  expect? 
Not  a  fortune.  You  can  count  on  your  fingers,  almost,  the 
men  who  have  made  fortunes  in  the  poultry  business.  And 
these  men  have  made  their  money  by  selling  birds  and  eggs 
to  breeders  rather  than  by  catering  to  the  regular  trade.  But 
a  careful,  industrious  man,  one  who  has  a  real  liking  for  the 
work  and  has  gone  into  it  intelligently,  may  reasonably  expect 
a  good  living,  a  pleasant  home,  health,  and  the  independence 
that  comes  from  being  one's  own  master. 

Novel  Way  to  Break  Up  a  Hen — After  you  have  tried 
every  other  method  you  can  think  of  to  break  up  a  hen,  with- 
out avail,  just  tie  a  piece  of  red  string  or  tape  to  her  tail.  Tie 
it  so  that  there  will  be  two  loose  ends,  each  about  six  inches 
long,  to  flutter  behind.  The  hen  will  at  once  lose  all  interest 
in  a  sedentary  life,  and  will  start  out  of  the  house  as  if  she 
was  going  to  a  fire.  She  will  run  until  she  is  tired  out,  when 
she  will  stop ;  then  she  will  start  in  and  after  a  short  rest  run 
again*  When  night  comes  you  will  find  her  on  the  roost, 
cured.  Take  the  ribbon  off  her  tail,  if  she  has  not  got  it  oft 
herself.  This  may  seem  an  heroic  method,  but  as  Shakespeare 
observes ; 

"Disease  desperate  grown 
By  desperate  appliance  are  relieved, 
Or  not  at  all." 

Economy,  Practicability — In  preparing  this  book  I  have 
been  governed  by  two  considerations :  economy,  practicability. 
By  economy  I  mean  not  only  frugality  in  the  use  of  money, 
but  also  frugality  in  the  use  of  time.  I  am  aware  that  the 
great  majority  of  those  who  keep  fowls  are  not  able  to  devote 
their  whole  time  to  the  business,  but  must  combine  poultry 
keeping  with  other  pursuits.  I  have  had  this  class  in  mind 
in  writing  this  book,  and  I  have  endeavored  to  show  how  the 


93 


maximum  of  profit  may  be  obtained  with  the  minimum  of 
effort.  Every  statement  in  the  book  has  been  tested  by  actual 
experience,  and  may  be  relied  upon  implicitly.  I  expect  to 
learn  as  long  as  I  live  and  to  modify  details  from  time  to  time, 
but  never  expect  to  depart  radically  from  the  principles  laid 
down  in  these  pages. 

To  Dust  a  Hen — With  your  left  hand  grasp  the  hen  by  the 
legs,  and  lay  her  breast  down  upon  a  newspaper.  The  powder 
should  be  in  a  tin  box  with  a  handle  and  a  perforated  cover. 
Sprinkle  the  powder  into  the  feathers  around  the  vent,  rubbing- 
it  in  well.  Work  the  powder  into  the  feathers  about  the  neck. 
Work  the  powder  into  the  feathers  on  the  sides  and  under  the 
wings.  Let  the  hen  stand  a  moment,  keeping  your  hands 
lightly  around  her  so  that  she  cannot  get  away.  Return  her 
to  the  roost  and  take  another.  After  going  through  the  pen 
shake  the  powder  that  has  fallen  on  the  newspaper  into  the 
can  or  package.  One  application  kills  the  lice  that  are  on  the 
hen  at  the  time,  but  in  a  week  there  will  be  another  brood.  The 
best  poultrymen  recommend  dusting  a  hen  at  least  three 
times,  at  intervals  a  week  apart,  and  never  admitting  a  strange 
hen  into  the  pen  without  first  dusting  her  thoroughly.  One 
lousy  hen  will  contaminate  all  the  rest,  and  so  it  is  necessary 
to  be  on  one's  guard  all  the  time. 

Causes  of  Disease — The  more  troublesome  diseases  of 
fowls,  with  their  causes,  may  be  summed  up  as  follows :  Roup 
— introduced  by  germs.  Cholera — filth  and  overcrowding. 
Diarrhoea — damp  houses,  filthy  houses  and  runs,  overcrowd- 
ing. Canker — dampness  and  filth.  Diphtheria — roosting  in 
draughts,  also  damp  houses.  Ulcerated  throat — same.  Con- 
sumption— neglected  cold.  Apoplexy,  vertigo  and  epilepsy — 
overfeeding.  Sore  eyes — damp  houses.  Costiveness  and  con- 
stipation— improper  food.  Soft  and  swelled  crop — overfeed- 
ing. Indigestion  and  dyspepsia — same.  Pip — damp  quarters. 
Bronchitis — same.  Black  rot — result  of  indigestion.  Soft- 
shelled  eggs— overfeeding.  Gout,  rheumatism  and  cramp — 
damp  houses.  Leg  weakness — inbreeding  and  overfeeding. 
Bumble  foot — high  perches.  Scaly  legs — filth  and  damp  quar- 
ters. 

Whitewash — There  is  no  better  whitewash  for  outside 
work  than  that  used  by  the  United  States  government  for 
public  buildings,  which  is  made  as  follows :  Take  half  a  bushel1 


94 


of  unslacked  lime  and  slack  it  with  boiling  water,  covering 
during  the  process  to  keep  in  steam.  Strain  the  liquid  through 
a  fine  sieve  or  strainer,  and  add  a  peck  of  salt  previously  dis- 
solved in  warm  water;  three  pints  of  ground  rice  boiled  to  a 
thin  paste  and  stirred  in  while  hot;  half  a  pound  of  Spanish 
whiting,  one  pound  of  clean  glue.  Before  the  glue  is  added  it 
should  be  dissolved  in  cold  water  and  then  brought  to  a  state 
where  it  will  flow  freely  by  being  placed  over  a  slow  fire  in  a 
small  pot  set  in  a  larger  one — the  larger  pot  being  filled  with 
water.  Add  five  gallons  hot  water  to  the  mixture,  stir  well. 
and  let  it  stand  a  few  days  where  no  dirt  can  get  into  it.  Ap- 
ply hot.  One  pint  of  this  whitewash  will  cover  one  square 
yard.  Coloring  matter  may  be  added  as  desired.  For  cream 
•color  add  yellow  ochre;  for  pearl  or  lead  color  add  lampblack 
or  ivory  black;  for  fawn  color  add  proportionately  four 
pounds  of  common  lampblack;  for  common  stone  color  add 
proportionately  four  pounds  of  raw  umber  to  twro  pounds 
lampblack. 

A  Field  Near  Home — The  man  who  does  not  have  the 
capital  to  engage  in  the  business  on  a  large  scale,  or  who  does 
not  feel  competent  to  compete  with  breeders  of  established 
reputation,  may  largely  increase  his  profits  by  imitating  their 
methods  within  a  limited  area.  Farmers  are  waking  up  to  the 
importance  of  keeping  thoroughbred  stock.  The  average 
farmer  does  not  feel  that  he  can  afford  to  pay  $2  or  even  $1 
for  a  sitting  of  eggs,  but  he  will  gladly  pay  50  cents.  The 
man  who  introduces  a  new  and  promising  variety  into  his 
neighborhood,  or  who  has  a  strain  of  any  established  breed 
noted  for  egg  production,  can  count  on  a  large  sale  of  eggs 
for  hatching  around  home.  It  is  more  profitable  to  sell  eggs 
to  the  farmers  for  50  cents  a  sitting  than  to  sell  them  for 
double  that  sum  to  customers  out  of  town,  for  in  the  latter 
case  there  is  the  expense  for  advertising  and  baskets,  the  time 
•consumed  in  packing  the  eggs  and  in  correspondence. 

How  to  Break  Up  a  Sitting  Hen — Don't  be  -in  a  hurry  to 
break  up  the  sitting  hen.  She  has  laid  long  and  well  and  needs 
a  vacation  before  she  starts  in  again.  If  it  is  summer  put  her 
out  of  the  house  and  yard  and  let  her  forage  for  herself  a  few 
days.  If  it  is  winter  or  spring,  put  her  in  a  pen  built  for 
broodies,  give  her  a  light  feed  of  mash  for  breakfast,  nothing 
for  dinner,  and  the  same  for  supper.  Give  her  all  the  water 


95 


she  will  drink.  In  a  week  she  will  be  cured  and  come  back  to 
the  flock  with  a  good  appetite,  and  in  another  week  she  will 
begin  to  lay.  The  philosophy  of  this  method  is  that  the  scanty 
ration  makes  the  hen  uneasy  and  she  forgets  her  desire  for 
incubation.  It  won't  hurt  her  to  go  a  little  hungry  for  a  few 
days,  for  if  she  is  in  a  condition  to  sit  she  has  stored  up  plenty 
of  fat  and  it  will  do  her  good  to  consume  some  of  it.  It  is  a 
fact  not  generally  known  that  where  no  nest  eggs  are  used 
and  where  the  eggs  laid  are  gathered  two  or  three  times  a 
day,  hens  are  not  nearly  so  likely  to  get  broody  as  they  are 
when  they  feel  a  clutch  of  eggs  under  them  every  time  they 
go  on  the  nest. 

The  two  requisites  of  success  in  the  poultry  business  are 
brains  and  pains. 

The  poultryman  who  expects  winter  eggs  from  immature 
or  stunted  pullets  is  going  to  be  badly  disappointed.  It  re- 
quires good  food,  good  care  and  a  good,  steady  growth  from 
shell  to  maturity  to  develop  winter  layers. 


A  SETTIN'  HEN. 

When  a  hen  is  bound  to  set, 

Seems  as  though  'tin't  etiket 

Dowsin'  her  in  water  till 

She's  connected  with  a  chill. 

Seems  as  though  'twas  skursely  right 

Givin'  her  a  dreadful  fright, 

Tyin'  rags  around  her  tail, 

Poundin'  on  an  old  tin  pail, 

Chasin'  her  around  the  yard. 

— Seems  as  though  'twas  kinder  hard 

Bein'  kicked  and  slammed  and  shooed 

'Cause  she  wants  to  raise  a  brood. 

I  sh'd  say  it's  gettin'  gay 

Jest  'cause  natur'  wants  its  way. 

— While  ago  my  neighbor,  Penn, 

Started  bustin'  up  a  hen; 

Went  to  yank  her  off  the  nest, 

Hen,   though,  made   a  peck  and  jest 

Grabbed  his  thumbnail  good  and  stout, 

— Liked  to  yanked  the  darn  thing  out. 

Penn  he  twitched  away  and  then 

Tried  again  to  grab  the  hen. 

But,  by  ginger,  she  had  spunk, 

'Cause  she  took  and  nipped  a  chunk 

Big's  a  bean  right  out  his  palm, 

Swallowed  it.  and  cool  and  calm 

Histed  up  and  yelled  "Cah-dah !" 

— Sounded  like  she  said  "Hoo-rah  !" 

Wai,  sir,  when  that  hen  done  that, 

Penn,  he  bowed,  took  off  his  hat, 

— Spunk  jest  suits  him,  you  can  bet — 

"Set,"  says  he,  "gol  darn  y«,  SET." 

— Holman  F.  Day  in  Lewiston  Journal. 


INDEX 


American   Breeds  Best, 


PAGE 

.   42 


Best    Sexed    Birds 48 

Breeding   for  200   Egg« 56-60 

Breed   from  Best   Birds 57 

Brooder    Care  of 68 

Brooder,    Install    One 66 

Brooder,    Removing   Chicks   to 67 

Brooder,   Secrets  of   Success  With..  67 

Brooder  Chicks,  How  Author  Feeds.  68 

Brooder  Chicks,  Another  Man's  Way  69 

c 

Carbohydrates     35 

Chicks   and   Their   Care 66-71 

Chicks,    with    Hens 70 

Chicks,    Diseases    of 73 

Chicks,   When   to   Hatch 71 

Cholera    77 

Colds   and    Bronchitis 74 

Colony  -Plan 8 

Community    Plan 9 

Colony-Community    Plan 12 

Crop  Bound 78 

Crosses     58 

D 

Diarrhoea    74 

Diseases,  Causes  of 93 

Diseases,  the  More  Common 72-80 

Drinking    Water 24 

Dust    Bath 22 

E 

Egg    Eating 79 

Egg  Foods  and  Tonic , 43 

Eggs,  Feeding  for 25-33 

Eggs  in  Fall  and  Winter 41-45 

Egg    Production,    Conditions   of 7 

Egg   Records,   How   Wrecked 5 

Egg   Type 7 

End  of  200- Egg  Hen 85-88 

Exercise 22 

F 

Fats     35 

Feeding,  a   Woman's  Way 32 

Feeding,    Caution 29 

Feeding,    Dry 33 

Feeding,  Golden  Rule  for 30 

Feeding    How    Much 26 

Feeding,    Summer    Method 29 

Feeding,  Variety  Necessary 28 

Feeding,    Winter    Method 27 

Foods  and  Food  Values 34-40 

G 

Grit,  Charcoal  and  Oyster  Shells....  23 

Green    Food 37 

H 

Hen  Persuader,  Mr.  Fox's 45 

Heredity 4 

Home  of  200-Egg  Hen 8-17 

I 
Incubation,  Artificial  and  Natural. .  61-65 

Incubator  or   Hen 61 

Incubator,  Get  a  Good  One 62 


K 


PAGE 


Killing  and   Dressing 85 

L 

Leg    Bands 61 

Lice  and  Red   Mites 20 

Liver,    Diseases    of .* 77 

M 

Male,    Importance    of 58 

Manure,     Poultry 84 

Mature    Birds,    Breed    from 85 

Moulting    79 

Montana  Experiment  Station  House.  12 
N 

Natural    Hen    Incubator 63- 

Non-Layers     6 

P 

Packing  and   Shipping 87 

Piano   Box   Houses 16 

Prize  Method  of  Feeding 45 

Products  and  By-Products 81-84- 

Preserving  Eggs,  Methods  of 82-84 

Pullets,  to   Start  Laying 45 

R 

Rats    36- 

Rations,  Balanced,  etc 36- 

Reproduction,    Conditions   of 47 

Reproduction,  Sex  Element  in 48- 

Roup     75- 

s 

Salad    and    Dressing 89-96 

Sanitation  in  Egg  Production 18-24 

Scalding    Fowls 87 

Sex  Element  in  Egg  Production . . .  46-51 

Scaly   Legs 78 

Shipping  Live  Stock 88- 

Sitting  Hen.  Care  of 64 

Sitting  Hen,  to  Break  Up 95 

Successful  Men,  How  Some  Feed...  30 

Summer,   Sanitation   in 24 

Sex,    Law   of 49' 

Sex,  Selection  by ,  49 

Sick  Birds,   Segregate 72. 

Sickness,  Beginning  of 72 

T 

Tables    39-40 

Testing    Eggs 64 

Tonic,  A  Good 78- 

Things  to  Bear  in  Mind 38 

Trap  Nest  and  Its  Uses 52  55. 

Two  Hundred  Egg  Hen 3-7 

V 

Varieties,  How  Many 5 

Vermin,  To  Rid  House  of 21 

w 

Water    Test 65 

Winter  Eggs  from  Pullets 41 

Winter  Eggs,  Feeding  for 43 

Winter  Eggs,  Why  Not  Fertile 60 

Whitewash,    Government 93- 

Y 

Yard,    Poultry 23- 


^~ 

3 

L 


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